Today, House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (MN-02) released the following statement after House Republicans unveiled their bill to decimate the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and take food assistance away from millions of seniors, children, veterans and people with disabilities.

“With American families feeling anxious about the economy and so much uncertainty in farm country, this is not the time to make reckless cuts to basic needs programs. Yet, Republicans are fast-tracking catastrophic cuts to food assistance, taking food away from seniors living on fixed incomes and parents who are struggling to afford groceries for their children. Decimating the nutrition title of the farm bill to fund tax breaks for the already wealthy and large corporations leaves farmers and the families they feed behind.

“These cuts also reduce demand for the food farmers grow and grocery stores sell, meaning lost income and jobs in rural America and throughout the country. This smash-and-grab job busts up the farm bill coalition and abandons the traditionally bipartisan legislation that American agriculture relies on to remain competitive and that family farmers need to get through these tough economic times.

“We should make food assistance work better for those it was designed to protect – like children and moms – not cut it so Republicans can fund more tax breaks for those at the very top.”