House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture, and Horticulture Ranking Member Jahana Hayes delivered the following opening statement at today's joint subcommittee hearing entitled "Severe Food Distribution Shortages in Tribal and Elderly Communities." Watch the full hearing here.

[As prepared for delivery]

Thank you and thank you to our witnesses for testifying today.

The delays in food aid delivery by the program contractor, Paris Brothers Inc., are deeply concerning.

The inability of the contractor to live up to its commitment to provide food for vulnerable communities is unacceptable.

Preventable delays in the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations have negatively impacted food access for tribal communities across the country for months.

In my state of Connecticut, more than 2,600 seniors depend on CSFP to put food on their tables each month.

Last week our delivery did not arrive as scheduled.

If it does not arrive in the next week, Connecticut food banks will be very low or fully depleted of major food categories, including vegetables and protein.

Tribal communities across the country have felt the brunt of these disruptions.

For the past six months, the Paris Brothers have not been able to resolve the issue.

According to Move For Hunger, about 1-in-4 Native people experience food insecurity, compared to 1-in-9 Americans overall.

Through this hearing, I hope we can identify potential common sense, bipartisan solutions to ensure communities, especially our most vulnerable communities, do not go hungry.

I look forward to hearing directly from the panelists about the impact of this supply chain disruption on community members in affected areas and engage in bipartisan efforts to address this shortfall.

I am hopeful the perspective and expertise on the panel today will contribute to a productive and proactive conversation.