Congresswoman Fudge Opening Remarks at Subcommittee Hearing on Proposed ABAWD Rule and its Impact on Hunger and Hardship

 

WASHINGTON– Rep. Marcia L. Fudge, Chair of the House Agriculture Nutrition, Oversight and Department Operations Subcommittee, delivered opening remarks at the subcommittee hearing on the proposed ABAWD rule and its impact on hunger and hardship. 

[Highlights as prepared for delivery – full remarks can be found here]

“The purpose of today’s hearing is to examine proposed changes to a long-standing USDA Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents, or ABAWD, policy that will impact a significant number of SNAP recipients.  Such a change demands careful and deliberate consideration.  Today, we will have this long overdue conversation. ...

“There is no dignity in taking food away from the poorest and most vulnerable of our citizens.  It is dishonest and immoral for anyone to assume or suggest that poor people do not want to work, especially if that work only pays an average of $125 a month. …

“The proposal before us fails to consider that unemployment is not the sole problem ABAWDs face.  Many ABAWDs experience other hardships, including lack of housing, undiagnosed mental illnesses, learning disabilities, and poor health.

“The proposal before us makes clear this Administration does not understand nor care about the lack of access or barriers and hardships that keep many from finding and securing long-term employment.  The proposal also tells me the Administration foolishly assumes everybody has the same access to the resources needed to escape the cycle of poverty – “If they just work 20 hours per week, it would solve their problems and move them out of poverty.”

“‘Lifting yourself up by your boot straps’ only works if you have boots. …

“If this was really about the dignity of work and efficiency of the program, we would wait to see the final results from the 2014 Farm Bill, which provided $200 million for 10 Employment and Training pilot projects.  It is ill-advised to issue a rule without the supporting data or best practices learned from the pilots, to better serve the ABAWD population.

“USDA estimates that 755,000 people will lose benefits and predicts a savings in federal spending on SNAP benefits of $7.9 billion over five years.  What will happen to the 755,000 people?  … Where are the jobs?  My Republican colleagues love to talk about the surplus of jobs or low unemployment numbers, but we should remember that there’s a skill gap at play within this population and many ABAWDs live in smaller, rural communities where jobs are not as readily available. …

“Without the skills necessary to obtain gainful employment and meet SNAP work requirements, what other options are there for these individuals to put food on the table?  I am very concerned about the added burden these proposed cuts to SNAP place on other low-income services and charities like food banks.  Every time Republicans trot out calls for welfare reform, they argue the private sector will pick up the slack.

“Let me ask this, what does $7.9 billion in savings from SNAP mean if it increases the demand for other low-income programs or local charities that are already stretched thin?  This proposed rule is nothing more than another attempt by the … Administration to reintroduce the thoughtless House Republican SNAP provisions that were rejected in the 2018 Farm Bill.  We passed a bill – follow the law!

“The House and Senate passed a farm bill conference report by a historic 369 votes, and the President signed the bill without delay.  Follow the law!  Rehashing failed policies is an affront to the democratic process and an utter waste of time. … Instead of proposing cruel and unsound ideas without merit - let’s figure out how to help people in need. 

“Our job is to do the most for those who have the least.”

 

###