Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed their Farm Bill by a vote of 213-211, with no Democratic support and 20 Republicans voting against the legislation. Jacob Leibenluft, executive vice president for Policy at the Center for the American Progress, issued the following statement in response:
Having satisfied their desire to bring up a bill that would criminalize 11 million undocumented immigrants – including most Dreamers – and condemn children at the border to cages for up to 30 days, the House majority rammed through a partisan Farm Bill that would take food away from more than 2 million Americans by slashing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Not only does the bill attack SNAP, but it also strips 265,000 children of automatic access to free school meals, and undermines bedrock environmental laws to boot.
Shame on them. House Republican leaders are nakedly exploiting the fact that the national spotlight is instead focused on the un-American policy of family separation – which was unilaterally put in place by the Trump administration – to jam through a bill that would take food off the tables of millions of struggling families.
The Senate already has a Farm Bill supported by both parties. Rather than taking away food from millions of children, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, and struggling workers, the House should work with the Senate to advance their bipartisan bill.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Kyle Epstein at [email protected] or 202.481.8137.