For Immediate Release: 2/24/15
Contact: Celia Cole, 512.590.0659 or ccole@feedingtexas.org
This week the House Agriculture Committee, chaired by Texas Congressman Michael Conaway (R-Midland), will hear testimony in a pair of hearings examining the federal SNAP program, also known as food stamps. Other committee members from Texas include Congressmen Randy Neugebauer (R-Lubbock) and Filemon Vela (D-Brownsville).
We welcome the opportunity for our elected leaders to learn more about this important nutrition program and the families it serves. SNAP ensures that the most vulnerable Texans - primarily children, the elderly and disabled - get the nourishment they need to be healthy and resilient.
SNAP helps the unemployed as well as working families supplement their food resources during times of economic hardship. Its success in reducing food insecurity, alleviating poverty and contributing to better health outcomes are well documented. In recent years, SNAP's structure and funding have also proved an efficient and targeted vehicle to combat the worst recession seen in generations.
Our twenty-one regional food banks are proud to assist the state of Texas by helping vulnerable people in every county navigate the application process. SNAP is integral to our statewide goal of filling the "meal gap" experienced by food insecure Texans. Many of our food banks also provide nutrition education to help SNAP recipients make healthy decisions, and workforce training to help employable SNAP recipients get back on their feet.
During the Great Recession, SNAP caseloads increased in response to high unemployment. But rather than applaud the program for helping millions of struggling Americans weather tough economic times, SNAP was unfairly blamed for contributing to the deficit, and Congress cut $8 billion from the program in a misguided attempt to reduce federal spending on the backs of the most vulnerable Americans.
In the days and weeks to come, we hope Congress will stay away from "party politics", as Chairman Conaway has urged, and focus its attention on ways to build on SNAP's success. Congress should make sure SNAP reaches everyone in need, provides adequate benefits to support good nutrition, and connects able-bodied adults to good jobs and a pathway out of poverty. This is the conversation we should be having.
By providing the support that people need, we are collectively strengthening our nation and giving everyone a chance to succeed.