Thank you, Chair Foxx and Ranking Member McGovern.

The more the American people learn about this “Big Ugly Bill” and its nearly $200 billion cut to food assistance, the less they like it.

A recent Fox News poll found 59 percent of voters oppose this bill. The American people are not buying what the Republicans are selling – even on Fox News.

The American people, like House Democrats, want to reduce waste, fraud and abuse. This bill does not reduce waste, fraud or abuse – it gives government sponsored tax breaks to the wealthiest among us and pay for it by taking food and health care away from seniors, children, veterans and people with disabilities. And it isn’t truly paid for. It adds nearly $4 trillion to the national debt. So much for fiscal responsibility.

The American people – including Minnesotans – know the cost of living is too high. This bill does not lower the cost of living – it makes meeting basic needs, like groceries and accessing medical care, more expensive.

The American people want efficient and effective governance. This bill does not improve good governance; it makes it worse by pushing billions in new expenses onto state and county governments – forcing our state and local governments into a position where they need to decide between taking food away from their friends and neighbors, slashing other local services or raising taxes to pay for these new bills Republican politicians in Washington, DC, are trying to pass along to them.

In Minnesota alone – where the burden for SNAP cuts will fall to the counties – the Association of Minnesota Counties projects they will have to raise property taxes by an average of more than 5 percent to pay for it. And by much more in some counties.

Republicans have managed to do the impossible. Miraculously, they’ve created a bill that takes food and health care away from millions of Americans in a way that does not save taxpayer dollars but instead adds trillions of dollars to the national debt. Minnesotans, and Americans in every corner of the country, are asking why and how is this possible. It’s simple. Republicans picked tax breaks for large corporations over hard-working American families.

Republicans are selling the American people down the river.

This bill sells out our farmers and the families they feed. It sells out the farm bill coalition that should be focused on passing a full, five-year farm bill with 12 bipartisan titles. It sells out the hopes and dreams of the 42 million Americans struggling to keep food on the table. It sells out more than 300 rural hospitals that are at risk of closing due to Medicaid cuts.

This bill cuts hundreds of billions of dollars from SNAP, our most effective anti-hunger program, by taking $6 a day out of the pockets of vulnerable seniors, veterans, children and people with disabilities – and putting that money into the pockets of billionaires.

Taking food away from the people who need it forces seniors to choose between having a meal and paying for medicine. It forces our nation’s children to go to bed hungry.

And let me tell you what else – this Republican bill takes food away from veterans struggling to reintegrate into civilian life in our country right now.

Many veterans suffer from behavioral or physical health issues connected to their service. One in three working-age veterans with disabilities isn't sure where their next meal will come from. One in four working-age veterans who can’t find work is food insecure.

Our veterans can’t pay for meals with “Support the Troops” bumper stickers, and they can’t eat thoughts and prayers.

It doesn’t stop there.

This bill takes food away from former foster youth leaving the foster care system, who may not have the same level of support from families that many of us benefited from when we were just starting to make our way in the world as 18- or 19-year-olds. Where are your values?

The American people are right not to trust this bill. This bill does not save us a cent. It passed trillions in debt to our children and grandchildren and it’s a political loser. I honestly don’t understand what the hell my colleagues are doing. It does not make government work better. It makes people worse off. It does not lower costs for ordinary Americans. It makes life more expensive.

This bill was a disgrace when it left this chamber, and it is more of a disgrace now. I yield back.