DeLauro Statement on Hunger in America

New USDA Report Shows Problem Is Not Dissipating

NEW HAVEN, CT—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) issued the following statement today on a new US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report showing the number of hungry Americans has stayed stubbornly high. Without congressional action, the Farm Bill will expire at the end of this month, throwing the millions of Americans who rely on food stamps and other anti-hunger programs to put food on their table into a dangerous limbo. The House of Representatives is expected to debate a Republican plan in the coming weeks.

"This report is further proof that Republican leadership needs to stop the dangerous path it is currently on and ensure our critical anti-hunger programs are adequately funded. Behind the numbers in this report are parents who cannot put dinner on their kitchen table and children who go to school on empty stomachs. This is no way for the wealthiest country in the world to behave. I hope my colleagues come to their senses, do what is right for the American people, and restore the bipartisan resolve we used to have to eradicate hunger in America."

Last month, DeLauro led the entire Democratic caucus in a letter to Speaker Boehner urging him to include funding for nutrition programs in any future Farm Bill, or other legislation, that comes before the House of Representatives. The bill passed in July broke with decades of tradition and excluded that funding.     As recently as August 1, reports had surfaced that Republicans would try and slash an astonishing $40 billion from food stamps when Congress reconvenes this month. If that were to become law it would result in an estimated four to six million people being pushed off the program.