Date: 2013-06-20
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I applaud the gentleman for his honesty and for his work. because as I began this debate. we have always voted in a bipartisan manner on the farm bill. For those of us in the urban areas that touch a little rural area or live in States that have large pockets of rural areas. we are well aware that we are the breadbasket of the world. When we travel the world. we are always eager to see the food products. That has been our nomenclature. That has been our name. Thats been what America is known for. not only its generosity and its heart. but its willingness to feed the hungry. As I indicated. who could craft an amendment that would deepsix this bill. adding insult to the $20 billion that I know the gentleman indicated we were looking to compromise on in the conference. But to say to the gentleman. we all would hope the bill will come back. Maybe it might even come back with the recognition that the $20 billion is spiking too high. But certainly the Southerland amendment. and the one previously that did not pass that wanted to cut even more from the $20 billion. if I might say. its an oxymoron between the farm and those who need to eat. We always work together. and we were able to produce products and enough food to give those who were hungry and those who could not find work. I want to make mention of the fact. as the gentleman said. that included in taking their food away from them. as the gentleman said. was the disabled and the parents with young children. And so I want to thank the gentleman for his words and. of course. for his leadership for his area and also on this topic. So that is two Members from two distinct places. Democrats. who would have been able to come and find a reasoned way to address this bill. Might I also say that I do thank the committee for acknowledging an amendment to be able to reach out. my amendment. the Jackson Lee amendment that was included. but Im willing to sacrifice that amendment that was to reach out and create opportunities for minority businesses. womenowned businesses. family farmers. Black farmers who have been discriminated against for eons under the Agriculture Department. My amendment would have caused a specific outreach to these individuals. and Im glad for it. I was able to support the McGovern amendment. which had an offset that I believe was a proper offset that would have put the money. $20 billion. back in. Again. I want to remind my colleagues. our deficit is going down. Our economy is percolating. I didnt say it was perfect. I didnt say everyone had a job. But what I did say is were making progress. Why are we continuing to do injury for those who cannot speak for themselves? I do not know. Again. I was eager to see in this bill. to be able to work with more urban gardens. community gardens. what we call victory gardens. Theyve been successful in the city of Houston. in Acres Homes. in fact. in Fifth Ward. I see them as progress. the growing of food. the putting food on the tables. healthy food. of people who dont have the means to get good vegetables and to be able to use those urban gardens to teach children to help families come together and to be able to take home good food. I want to pay tribute to the Houston Food Bank in my congressional district that has brought so many people together. But I can tell you that theyre not lacking in business. and the $20 billion of this SNAP program going down. meaning. being taken away. one of the largest food banks in America. would have been impacted negatively by the idea of the lack of the supplemental nutrition program. I wanted to also make sure that we had an assessment of helping the older Americans have accessible and affordable nutrition. one of my amendments that did not get in. But when we see older Americans. we can tell sometimes that theyre making choices between food and. obviously. their medicine. their prescriptions. I wanted to make sure that we had had a special commitment to helping them build up their access to nutritious food. along with those who suffer with disabilities. I wish that had gotten in. And then I wanted to make sure that we did not turn our backs on obesity and juvenile obesity. Just this week the medical community has joined and named obesity as a disease. and my amendment would have had a sense of Congress that encourages food items being provided pursuant to the Federal school breakfast and school lunch program. and that the kind of nutritious items should be selected. and so we can bring down the incidence of juvenile obesity and maximize nutritional value and take away the possibility of our children not having the right kind of nutrition. So I am eager to get back to the drawing board. But I walked through neighborhoods that suffer from the lack of access to food. and. as well. Im aware of something called food deserts. where the only place that you can buy is the local gasoline. gas station location. And maybe you can find an apple or a banana. but mostly what youre going to find is a lot of. if you will. the other kind of food. Some have called it junk food. Pretty tasty. Make sure theres a market for it. Its always good to have fun. but its not what you have to raise children. to provide for those who are ill. disabled. parents who cannot work. Thats not where they should be shopping. Food deserts exist in rural and urban areas and are spreading. as a result. fewer farms. as well as fewer places to access fresh fruit. vegetables. proteins and other foods. and thats why this bill is important. to help our small farmers. but also to help those get assistance. And by the way. the supplemental nutrition program is not welfare. because there are many people who are working who are on food stamps. but their income is such that they cannot provide the nutritious food for their children. But the main insult is the loss of these dollars for our breakfast and lunch program. that no matter whether youre living in rural America or urban America. your child has the ability to have a good. warm. hot meal for lunch and for breakfast to get them started and ready to learn. And. therefore. it avoids the metabolic function that comes from malnutrition that causes the breakdown in tissue. For example. the lack of protein in the diet leads to disease and decay of teeth and bones. Another example of health disparities in food deserts are the presence of fastfood establishments. Again. its good to have fun. but if that is all that you eat. then you know that that is not going to make for a healthy young person. child. in the growing years. the maturing years. the years that their cognitive skills are growing. the years that theyre strengthening their physical being in order to grow into an adult that will be healthy. And so many of us took the SNAP challenge. the supplemental nutrition challenge. to live on $4.50. And I went to the grocery store. and I was so scared about going over. I bought one apple. one banana. two apricots. I bought an avocado and a tomato and two potatoes. and I was calculating in my mind. because this was $4.50 for the day. And I went to the meat area and looked at. of all things. chopped meat. hamburger meat. I couldnt find anything that would even fit. They were all $5. $4. I kept looking. cheese. too expensive. And I found something in a package called smoked chicken. And in this store. they had it for 58 cents. processed smoked chicken. And I said that I can use for protein. And so the meal. in my mind. was going to be an apricot. and a banana for breakfast. lunch. you boil a potato with sliced tomatoes. which you would save for your big meal. your dinner. But every day. a family has to look at $4.50 to have their meals. And so for anyone that thinks that this is a bunch of folk who enjoy getting these food stamps to have a jolly good time. Im glad that I experienced that purchase and what you get for $4.50. And yet on the floor of the House today. there were those who were willing to put up a bill that would take $20 billion and. literally. as I started to say. and have said. dismantle the kitchen. dismantle the table. take the utensils and just say. plop down on the floor. And as we came to the end of the bill. that was not enough. The Southerland amendment came forward and said. not only are we going to insult you and take all the utensils and table away. but were going to make it a boondoggle. Were going to give incentives. Were going to make it a gambling opportunity for our States. Were going to let them throw the dice. How many can you get off of SNAP? And if you get them off. youll be able to pocket the money. We dont want to control what you do with it. Were not going to suggest that you put it in education. or maybe give back to the schools so they can get a different kind of meal for the child thats lost the breakfast program. No. we dont care. Youre just going to pocket the money and run off into the hills. States have many burdens. Im a champion of our States. I love my State. But Ive seen the tough debates that my State legislators have had. fighting to get a few parcels for food. for education dollars. for infrastructure dollars. So I know its tough. but as I said. some States are a little bit more better off than others. Its all about priorities. And I can only say. Mr. Speaker. that today we didnt commend ourselves well. I want to go back. I want to be able to. if you will. I want to be able to put the table. the utensils back. the table cloth. I want to be able to have a poor family have a nutritious meal. I want to be able to have a child have a lunch or breakfast. I want a disabled person to be able to have the right kind of food to help them in their illness. I want an elderly person to be able to have their prescription drugs and. as well. to be able to have food that will nourish them. I close. Mr. Speaker. by saying that I spoke about unfinished business. And as we go forward. I join my colleague from New York. call upon the good people of this House. who represent the good Americans of this Nation. to come back together and find a way that passes a farm bill that does not put on the sacrificial table of destruction poor people who. through no fault of their own. are unemployed or disabled. or have children. or are only able to support the children and provide for them in this way because they live in an area where there are no jobs. They hope therell be jobs. They want there to be jobs but. at this point. it hasnt come. I conclude my remarks by saying in a list of things that we must do as unfinished business. I look forward. as well. to our being able to join some mothers that stood with me earlier this week. mothers that demand action. and they ask me about the idea of protecting their children with sensible gun legislation that would prevent gun violence. I hope. among other initiatives. a universal background check will also look to laws that will require the storage of ones guns. none of which impact or take away from the Second Amendment. Then I hope in unfinished business that we will continue to find. in a bipartisan way. a pathway forward for helping those individuals who came to this country. through no fault of their own. who come to this country and are working and dont want to do us harm. but simply want to find a way to stay in a country that they love. and. as well. to say to the American people that we take no shortness in your need and commitment for border security. I dont see why we cant do it all. That is not unheard of. It is not impossible. It frankly is something that we can go do. I want to close by saying that I am a person that loves the Constitution. believes in the Bill of Rights. the First Amendment. the freedom of press. speech. the Fourth Amendment that protects you against unreasonable search and seizure. the Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court case along with the Ninth Amendment on the question of privacy. So Im going to make a commitment to my colleagues that we work together on the issue of ensuring the American peoples civil liberties while we ensure our national security. We can do both. I have introduced legislation that would ask for a study of all of the outside contractors that are in the intelligence business and to present that study to the United States Congress and ensure that all those who have topsecret clearance are doing it in the name of this Nation. otherwise to present a plan to reduce that usage by 25 percent by 2014. That is only the fair way because certainly we must have oversight to who has access to your private information and is it access in order to secure this Nation. I stand with them if that is the case. But I ask the question. why are persons farflung and unsupervised with topsecret credentials such as the individual who has decided to leak information that is now being assessed? We have to ask the question. are credentials. do they meet the test? Are private contractors making a review of these individuals and assessing them and giving them clearance or if not. not supervising them? I have to ask that question. And then I would say that it is important that where you can be presented opinions that deal with something we call the FISA court. which is the court that we go into to protect your rights and to be able to go into and make determinations about whether or not there is surveillance. I would say to you that opinions that will not impact on national security or classified information can be shown to the American people. Theres nothing wrong with that. So I am looking forward to working in a bipartisan way on unfinished business. And I can only say. Mr. Speaker. in my final entreat to this body. the one thing that we should not do is to take the little hand of a child and to push it back from the table or from food. And what we did today was just that. I want a farm bill. but today I was proud to stand with the children of America who are better off because theyve been able to stamp out hunger through a program called SNAP. the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. and will continue to do so until we get it right. Our children are our precious resource. With that. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.