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Candidate Deb Haaland Slams GOP Plan to Slash SNAP Funding

“Anyone who treats food as a privilege has clearly never been poor.”

Albuquerque, NM -- Today, the House of Representatives will debate and vote on H.R. 2, Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, which funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program (SNAP), an essential program that offers nutrition assistance to millions of low-income individuals and families, nearly two-thirds of whom are children, elderly or disabled.

Deb Haaland, congressional candidate in New Mexico, issued the following statement ahead of today’s vote:

"Anyone who treats food as a privilege has clearly never been poor. The new farm bill is not only immoral, it is shameful. As a single mother, food stamps -- now SNAP-- have been a lifeline that kept my daughter and I alive. In a country as rich as America, no one should ever go hungry -- and yet far too many of us do every day.

"Tying SNAP to work requirements will hurt people in communities with high-unemployment -- many of which are communities of color, rural communities and tribes. It will hurt children, elderly and disabled people. Not every person with a disability can afford the mountains of paperwork and doctors visits required to prove they cannot work -- and they shouldn’t have to in order to avoid starvation.

"As a Native American woman, I also know that many Native American reservations struggle with unemployment rates that can reach 50% at times. Tying SNAP to work requirements means sentencing good people to starvation."

“I am also appalled at the Republican majority’s cynical attacks on our rural communities, environment, and small family farms in this ill-conceived legislation.”

Deb is an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna. She grew up in a military family; her father was a 30-year combat Marine who was awarded the Silver Star Medal during Vietnam, and her mother is a Navy veteran who went on to work 25 years in Indian education. Deb’s family moved throughout the country during her father’s military service; as a result, she attended 13 different high schools before graduating. She knows the sacrifices made by military families all too well — because she’s lived them.

 

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