DeLauro Introduces Bill to Block New USDA Proposed Rule Undermining SNAP

WASHINGTON, DC (December 20, 2018) – Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today introduced the Protect SNAP Act, which would prevent the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) from implementing stricter work requirement under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). DeLauro's bill follows a new USDA proposal that would restrict millions of Americans' access to SNAP—America's leading anti-hunger program.

"Today's USDA proposal is immoral at its core and betrays decades of bipartisan support for SNAP. President Trump's cruelty could not be clearer: passing trillions in tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations—on top of the massive giveaways to corporate agribusinesses in the 2018 farm bill—while taking food assistance away from the unemployed. The Administration's own data shows it will put millions of Americans at risk of going hungry and cut SNAP by billions of dollars. The Trump Administration is shamelessly picking up where House Republicans left off because they could not get this passed in Congress. Instead of listening to the will of the American people, Secretary Purdue has decided to jam through a regulation that punishes people for being poor. That is unconscionable. We cannot cut off this vital lifeline by rigging SNAP against the very people who the program was created to help. People who are food insecure deserve access to food, not further stigmatization. Congress should pass the Protect SNAP Act immediately to reinforce its authority and intent on this issue."

Earlier this year, DeLauro led a letter of 110 House Democrats telling Farm Bill conferees to reject changes to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. DeLauro is a senior Democrat on the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.