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Republicans push through legislation that ignores food stamp program

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree had harsh words for House Republicans, who pushed through a version of the Farm Bill today that completely ignores the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP—formerly food stamps).

"The Republican leadership in the House decided the only way they were going to get their members to support a Farm Bill was to completely abandon the nearly 50 million Americans on food assistance," Pingree said. "For over sixty years Congress has been able to pass a bill that combines farming and food stamp programs. Until now it had been a bipartisan process but a minority of Tea Party Republicans in the House have found a way to bring that long-standing agreement to an end."

Last month the Senate passed a bipartisan version of the legislation but today, House Republicans rammed through a bill that repeals the 1949 law that included SNAP as part of the Farm Bill. A previous attempt last month to pass a Farm Bill in the House failed when conservative Republicans attached amendments to the legislation that made it harder for low-income families to access food assistance.

"The last version of the Farm Bill we voted on already had extreme, drastic cuts to food stamps," Pingree said. "But I guess even that wasn't enough for some of the more extreme Republicans in the House. Sometimes I think the only thing that would make them happy is to eliminate the SNAP program altogether."

House Republicans now say there will hold a separate vote on the SNAP program, but haven't revealed any details of how deeply that bill would cut benefits.

Pingree voted against the bill that passed the House today.