Thank you, Chair Foxx and Ranking Member McGovern.

I had hoped that for my first appearance here before the Rules Committee, the Chairman and I would be coming to you, arm in arm, in support of a five-year farm bill with 12 bipartisan titles.

Instead, we’re here discussing the Agriculture Committee’s contribution to a partisan bill that decimates the most successful anti-hunger program in our nation and destroys the coalition that has always been able to get a farm bill across the finish line. And why? Not for middle-class tax cuts. But for the wealthiest individuals and large corporations. In addition, it is expected to increase the national debt. Let me repeat that. Increase the national debt by $5.6 trillion over 10 years. 

This bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. How do I know? Because Senator Chuck Grassley told us so.

Because it puts a huge burden on the states by forcing them to pay for anywhere from 5 to 25 percent of food assistance. Chair Foxx, the governor of your state said, and I quote:

“If Congress goes forward with these plans, our state will be forced into perilous budget decisions – should North Carolinians lose access to food, or should we get rid of other essential services?”

North Carolina is on the hook for up to $700 million per year under this proposal. That’s the equivalent of 8,9000 public school teacher salaries in North Carolina. Republicans want states to do their dirty work and take food away from people. And it doesn’t end there.

This budget does something else really egregious: it changes the definition of “dependent” from children under the age of 18 to children over the age of six. Once a kid turns seven years old, their parents could lose food assistance unless they meet some new paperwork requirements. I wonder if the people who came up with that policy have children. I have several and let me tell you: they eat more as they grow, not less. It’s truly beyond the pale, what this budget would do to children in our country.

And let’s be clear about what we’re talking about here. The average person gets around $6 per day in food assistance. Let me say that again – six dollars a day.

No one chooses to sit at home for six dollars a day. Six dollars a day doesn’t build you a life. But it can build you a bridge to the next paycheck, the next opportunity, the next moment of stability.

CBO estimates that the new paperwork requirements alone will take food assistance away from at least 3 million people. They didn’t say that 3 million people will receive a little less food. They say 3 million people will receive no food assistance. So much for claiming no one will lose benefits.

Hunger is a policy choice, and Republicans are choosing children going to bed without dinner. Seniors skipping meals so they can afford medicine. Parents sacrificing their own nutrition so their kids can eat. Single mothers leaving their 7-year-olds at home alone or letting them go hungry.

Everyone in this country is struggling with higher costs already, and, instead of addressing that problem, Republicans are choosing to make it worse. It is shameful.

Republicans claim they are rooting out “waste, fraud and abuse” or “holding the states accountable for high error rates.” This bill does not tackle fraud and does not include many commonsense policies that would improve program efficiency.  

And for what? To fund tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations.

I look forward to answering your questions.