Funding for additional work slots and exemptions provides some positive relief in this area. We urge your continued leadership to maintain adequate funding for the food stamp program in the FY 1999 budget, and further ask that you revisit elimination of the cap on the food stamp shelter deduction and increases in the food stamp vehicle allowance. This letter also urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Clinton Administration to restore food stamp benefits to legal immigrants and other needy American people in the United States. As the first session of the 105th Congress draws to a close and as Congress and the Administration begin to focus on the federal budget for fiscal year 1999, we want to urge you to include funding for several important food stamp and child nutrition programs in the President's budget submission next February. We believe that these programs should be accorded a high priority by your agency and can be funded without increasing the federal budget deficit.
Hunger is a very real problem facing millions of adults and children in the United States every day.
Poor nutrition not only stunts growth in our nation's children, but also causes detrimental effects on the cognitive development of children. As you know, the most recent data published by the Department of Agriculture revealed that 11 million people in the U.S. experience moderate or severe hunger each year, including more than 4 million children. The Federal Government has been working for many years to provide a safety net to help people who do not have enough to eat. WIC Funding - Provide adequate funding to allow full participation in the Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children. School Breakfast Program Restore outreach funding for start-up and expansion grants for school breakfast and summer meals programs.