FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 1997
Contact: Dave Redmond
(202) 225-4050
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- ACTING
SWIFTLY TO END WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE IN THE FOOD STAMP PROGRAM,
THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE TODAY OVERWHELMINGLY PASSED
H.R. 1000, A BILL REQUIRING STATES TO ESTABLISH SYSTEMS TO VERIFY
THAT PRISONERS ARE NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE FOOD STAMP PROGRAM.
On Monday, The General Accounting Office (GAO) issued
a report which concluded that millions of dollars are wasted in
food stamp overpayments to households of the incarcerated, despite
the Food Stamp Act's prohibition on prisoner participation in
the program. In response, Rep. Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the
Committee on Agriculture, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Chairman
of the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Nutrition, and Foreign
Agriculture, and Rep. Charlie Stenholm (D-TX), the Committee's
Ranking Democrat, introduced legislation (H.R. 1000) requiring
states to institute a system to verify that prisoners are not
participating in the food stamp program.
"It's outrageous that scarce public resources,
which are allocated to those in need out of human compassion and
kindness, are going unfairly to some households whose only advantage
is that one of its members broke the law and went to jail. Taxpayers
have a right to expect that their taxes are wisely spent, and
improperly enriching the households of the incarcerated is not
what taxpayers have in mind," Chairman Smith said.
"It truly is unfair, not just for the taxpayers,
but for the millions of law-abiding Americans who receive food
stamps properly that such an abuse could occur, that those families
who truly need government assistance for their nutrition could
receive lesser amounts than those who break the law. It pains
us to think that some families are struggling to provide for their
nutritional needs while across the street another household is
living better because one of their members went to the slammer,"
said Rep. Goodlatte.
"The Congress took up welfare reform last year
in an effort to break the cycle of welfare dependence and to ensure
that our nation's public assistance programs are directed to the
truly needy. There is clearly more that needs to be done, and
the legislation we have passed out of Committee today will help
to end fraud and abuse within the food stamp program," Stenholm
said.
Under H.R. 1000, states would be required to institute
a system to verify that individuals detained in Federal, state,
or county penal facilities are not participating in the food stamp
program. If a state fails to establish the verification system
required in the bill, the state may have a portion of its federal
administrative funds withheld. Additionally, the Secretary may
seek an injunction ordering a state to establish a verification
system.
The Agriculture Committee also passed several other
measures: H.R. 111, introduced by Rep. Gary Condit (D-CA), would
authorize the sale, at fair market value, of 22 acres of unused
agricultural land in Dos Palos, California for use as an agriculture
school; H.R. 785, introduced by Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA), would
rename the Piedmont Conservation Research Center in Watkinsville,
Georgia as the J. Phil Campbell, Sr. National Resource Conservation
Center; and H.R. 394, introduced by Rep. James A. Barcia (D-MI),
would release the United States' reversionary interest in a property
in Iosco County, Michigan.
Smith, the full Committee's Chairman, represents
Oregon's Second Congressional District, which includes most of
eastern, southern, and central Oregon, in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Goodlatte, who serves as Chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction
over food stamps, represents Virginia's Sixth Congressional District,
which includes Roanoke, Lynchburg, and the Shenandoah Valley.
Stenholm represents west central Texas' Seventeenth Congressional
District.