DeLauro Holds Screening of ‘A Hug from Paul Ryan,’ Calls on Congress to Protect America’s Social Safety Net

WASHINGTON, DC (May 17, 2016) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) last night held a screening of the new Sundance documentary A Hug from Paul Ryan. Following the screening, advocates from Witnesses to Hunger and the Center for Hunger-Free Communities joined her to call on Congress to protect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and America's social safety net.

"We cannot let partisan posturing overshadow the stories of the millions of Americans who are greatly impacted by America's social safety net programs. Our public policy needs to reflect the lives people are actually living," said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. "Speaker Ryan and the Republican budget threaten to undo so much of our good work, pushing children and families back into and deeper into poverty. We must work together to fight the unconscionable attacks to unravel the social safety net and we must stand together to ensure that the federal budget does not harm working families."

"We know that when programs are cut families suffer from poor health. Nearly one in five children in America live in households that don't have enough money to put food on the table. SNAP and other nutrition programs are a life-line when wages are not enough. SNAP prevents child hospitalizations and helps to keep families healthy," said Dr. Mariana Chilton, Professor at the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health and Director of the Center for Hunger Free-Communities.

A Hug from Paul Ryan follows Tianna Gaines-Turner, a member of Witnesses to Hunger and one of America's working poor, after her testimony at a 2014 House Budget Committee hearing on the "War on Poverty." Tianna hoped that by sharing a personal moment with Paul Ryan, her voice, representative of millions of Americans, would be a call to action.

"I stand here today for over 45 million Americans who struggle to make ends meet. I want Speaker Ryan and all policymakers to know," said Gaines-Turner, "we are not a line item that can be crossed out and our children are not bargaining chips to be used when members want to make cuts."

However, earlier this year, Speaker Ryan created a Poverty Task Force made up only of Republicans with voting records that cut funding to the very social safety net programs that combat poverty. All of the members of the Task Force voted for cuts included in the Ryan Budget: cuts to food stamps, Pell Grants, housing assistance, childcare, Head Start, and Medicaid. Further, just last week, Republicans announced plans to cut more than $23 billion from food stamps in their 2017 budget.

When asked what she would tell Speaker Ryan if she met with him, Tianna said, "I would invite him to Philadelphia, to see my neighborhood and come to the county assistance office when I need to reapply for benefits. He needs to better understand what is like to struggle and my expertise and that of others who have experienced poverty first-hand."

A Hug from Paul Ryanis part of Sundance's "Take 5: Justice in America" series, which is a collection of five short films on today's hot-button issues. The collection features originally commissioned work from filmmakers with a passion for impactful, socially conscious storytelling.

The documentary can be viewed here.

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