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DeLauro, McGovern Statement on Trump Administration’s Plans to Add Work Requirements for SNAP

February 23, 2018

WASHINGTON, DC (February 23, 2018) Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) and Congressman Jim McGovern (MA-02) today released the following statements regarding the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) proposed rule imposing additional work requirements for recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

"The Trump Administration is once again targeting America's most vulnerable citizens. Food insecurity is a crisis in places that Secretary Perdue would cut off given the proposed restrictions at the state and local level," said Congresswoman DeLauro. "Despite the rhetoric from Speaker Ryan and Republicans saying that they want to tackle poverty, the truth is that imposing additional requirements on SNAP only serves to cut off a lifeline that keeps millions of Americans—the majority of whom are seniors, children, and people with disabilities—from going hungry each year. The vast majority of SNAP recipients already work if they can, and the USDA's most recent data shows that work rates have been increasing year after year—so Secretary Perdue searching for a solution for a problem that does not exist. The American people would be far better served if the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans focused on economic policies that create jobs and raise wages instead of cruelly blaming people for needing a helping hand."

"Americans already struggling to put food on the table need our help, but instead the Trump Administration is finding cruel new ways to humiliate them and make their lives harder," said Congressman McGovern. "The fact is that the majority of Americans on SNAP who can work, do work. Many who struggle to find work have limited access to education, face mental health issues, and grapple with homelessness and other hardships. This group includes as many as 60,000 veterans. If President Trump were serious about tackling poverty, his budget would reflect that. This mean-spirited plan will do nothing to help Americans find jobs and only make hunger worse. Instead of attacking our country's most vulnerable, we should be working to pass bipartisan legislation that invests in job training programs that will help them get back on their feet. That's what our communities really need."

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