Velázquez on the GOP Farm Bill

Washington, DC – Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) issued the following statement today after the House voted to pass the GOP Farm Bill.

"The passage of this morally bankrupt bill further exposes the steps that Republicans are willing to take to penalize the vulnerable. This bill's drastic cuts to SNAP would rip food from the mouths of babies, send kids to school with empty stomachs and punish hardworking families and seniors. For these reasons, I voted emphatically no.

"SNAP helps over 41 million individuals across the country put food on the table. In my district alone, 65,672 households count on SNAP benefits for nutritional help. It is a particularly sickening irony that, the very same week Congressional Republicans scramble – ineffectively – to address the Trump Administration's shameful, cruel policies that rip migrant children from their parents' arms, House Republicans passed a bill taking food from the mouths of American children.

"At times like this, it is bewildering that Republicans continue attempting to claim the mantle of the party of ‘family values.'

"This radical bill breaks with longstanding bipartisan tradition and it is my hope that more prudent decisions will be made when the measure is reconciled with the Senate-passed farm bill. Congress must return to its practice of working across party lines to craft a Farm Bill that puts hardworking families first."

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