Dems slam GOP food stamp bill as ‘heartless,’ ‘cruel’

Republicans have said this reform is needed to help reduce the quickly rising cost of the SNAP program. But Democrats said the bill would essentially starve people who need federal aid.

{mosads}”It is cruel, it is immoral,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) of the bill. McGovern also dismissed the idea that the SNAP program is rife with fraud.

“This notion that fraud, waste and abuse are rampant in SNAP is a fallacy,” he said. “It’s a make-believe talking point designed to take away food from hungry people.”

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) similarly accused Republicans of using the deficit as cover to take food away from the hungry.

“We’re again catering to a fringe agenda brought up by partisans obsessed with the deficit boogeyman,” he said. “That boogeyman has been roaming around here for four years.”

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said the bill is part of the GOP’s “war on the poor.” She said it would cut people off from food stamps after just three months of benefits.

“This is just heartless,” she said.

Republicans say the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act, H.R. 3102, is needed because states were allowed to waive the requirement that able-bodied adults in childless households either work 20 hours a week, or undergo job training or be looking for work under a state-run job program, in order to receive SNAP benefits after three months.

The GOP has argued the Obama administration granted this waiver, which they see as an attempt to undermine the work requirement. But opponents of the bill say the waiver was granted under the same conditions that states received waivers under prior administrations.

Opponents of the bill also note that by eliminating the waiver entirely, the bill would give states no chance to extend SNAP benefits in cases when there are not enough jobs to go around. Benefits would also be denied to people in states that don’t have enough funding to create job training programs.

Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) spoke to these points Wednesday morning.

“Let’s not mischaracterize this as a new work requirement,” he said. “The changes proposed in this bill tell people who are struggling to find work in a difficult economy that if their job search goes on longer than three months, they should go hungry too.

“But the bill does not provide additional workforce training resources, and it doesn’t invest in job creation to help individuals find work.”