Floor Statements

Mr. Chair, the Farm Bill that we are considering today includes massive cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program--$20.5 billion to be exact.

I am offering an amendment that will help us understand the repercussions of these drastic cuts.

My amendment will require the Secretary of Agriculture to report to Congress on the effects of SNAP cuts on charitable food providers, like food banks and soup kitchens. Should these devastating cuts become law, it is common sense that we should know the consequences--my amendment is about taking responsibility.

There is little room to cut this vital program. The average SNAP benefit is now only $4.50 a day. That's just $1.50 a meal. And this benefit will get even lower in November when the 2009 Recovery Act increase expires.

The reality is that these cuts will significantly increase demand on charitable food providers who are already stretched to the limit trying to meet the needs of our communities during this tough economic time.

These providers are facing the perfect storm--over the past few years demand for their services has been increasing as the federal, state and local, and private funding they depend on has dwindled. Higher food and fuel prices are also making it harder for them to purchase and distribute food.

Charities simply do not have the resources to fill the growing funding gaps. This means that when the SNAP program faces further cuts, hungry Americans will have nowhere else to turn.

I hope every Member in this body will agree that in the wealthiest nation in the world, no American child should go to school hungry and no parent should have to make the difficult decision between paying rent or paying for groceries. This is simply unconscionable.

At this point we've all heard the numbers--these cuts will end food aid for nearly 2 million Americans and cut 210,000 children off of school lunch and breakfast programs.

This is a very personal issue for me. I was one of those hungry children. My father lost his job when I was a teenager and it was food stamps that kept me from going hungry. Food stamps, school breakfast and school lunch were there for me so I could worry about school instead of hunger. They nourished me so I could develop the skills to serve our country in the Army, the VA, and here in Congress.

This is also very personal for many of my constituents like Christine from Elgin, Illinois. It is because of her SNAP benefits and the Willow Creek Community Church's Food Pantry that Christine is able to provide food for her family. Her husband was laid off from the manufacturing company he worked at for 29 years. Christine, who is now disabled, can no longer work as a Nursing Assistant. Theirs is one of 3,000 families that Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois serves per month.

It is personal for the husband and wife who now count on SNAP benefits and the Church of the Holy Spirit Food Pantry in Schaumburg, IL after the husband lost his job as an electrician due to nerve damage in his hand, and they saw their savings quickly drain.

It is personal for the hard working employees and volunteers at the Greater Chicago Food Depository who serve 77 percent more people today than they did in 2008.

These stories are just a tiny sample. Forty-seven million Americans-- most of whom are children, elderly or disabled--rely on the SNAP program.

These cuts are not just numbers on a page. They affect real human beings. They will have devastating consequences for real families.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and face the reality of what these devastating cuts will mean for families and charities all across the country.

Madam Speaker, the cuts we are considering to SNAP-- $20.5 billion--will be devastating for many American families. There is little room to cut this vital program. The average benefit is only $4.50 a day, just $1.50 a meal. These cuts will slash benefits to 2 million Americans and cut more than 200,000 children off the school lunch and school breakfast program.

This is a very personal issue for me. I was one of those children. After my father lost his job for several years when I was a teenager, food stamps, school breakfast, and school lunch were the only things that saved me. They were there for me so I could worry about school instead of my empty stomach. They nourished me so I could develop the skills to serve my country for the next 20 years--all of the way here to Congress.

I believe that in the wealthiest Nation in the world, no American child should go to school hungry, and no parent should have to make the difficult decision between paying rent or paying for groceries.

Charities, like the Church of the Holy Sprit food pantry in Schaumburg, are already stretched to the limit, trying to meet the needs of our communities during these tough economic times. This means that hungry Americans will have nowhere else to turn.

I ask my colleagues to reject these draconian cuts.

Mr. Chair, during rollcall vote No. 256 on June 19, 2013, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Amendment No. 3 Offered by Ms. Foxx

Madam Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

I am opposed in its current form.

Madam Speaker, the willingness of our troops to place the Nation first is why the scourge of sexual harassment and assault in the military is so horrific. Just a single case is unacceptable. This is a self-inflicted wound that has no place in the greatest military in the world.

I love the military with every bone in my body. The lessons I learned as an army officer, the camaraderie I experienced are at the core of who I am, just as it is for my brothers and sisters in arms. That is why I am personally devastated to see how many predators continue to abuse and attack one of our own.

The military is a place of great discipline, technical proficiency, and personal sacrifice for the greater good. It is a place where young men and women grow and thrive, developing as great leaders and team members. This is the case for so many of them. However, for some, the military has now become a place of fear and intimidation.

The services have made significant efforts to try to stamp out sexual harassment and assault, but there are still unacceptable failures in these efforts. With each new piece of data on the rates of sexual assault and on the lack of command responsibility by many in dealing with military sexual trauma, I have gradually come to the conclusion that we need another path to protect the victims.

This amendment adds a new course of action for victims to pursue should they choose it. It empowers them at a time when they feel most powerless with a new option that is outside the chain of command with an independent investigation and prosecution system.

I place the highest priority on the importance of a commander's authority to lead and discipline the men and women under his or her command. However, in the case of sexual crimes, there continues to be failures in the existing processes for investigations and punishments within that chain. That is why we must empower victims with an additional choice so that they can seek justice.

There are many, many good commanders. My own experience has been a positive one with all of my commanders, all of whom were men, being protective of all of their soldiers and doing the right thing. Yet the data shows that there are enough predators and failed commanders that we need to take care of this now. This solution supports command authority but also, importantly, empowers victims by giving them one more option.

The men and women in our Armed Forces are why we live freely in the greatest country in the world. When our warriors face combat, they must be able to focus completely and single-mindedly on the mission at hand. They cannot do this if they are threatened with sexual assault.

When our Nation's parents are approached by their brave young son or daughter who is looking to join the military, these moms and dads need to know without a doubt that their child will be cared for, that they will become disciplined, well-trained leaders. They should not have to fear that their child will become a rape victim.

The military is a place of honor, one where our troops serve with great pride. This amendment is a balanced approach that honors our military by providing the victim with a choice on how to seek justice.

Madam Speaker, at this time, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlelady from California, who's been a leader in victims' rights, Ms. Speier.

Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my amendment, which will strengthen small business participation in government contracts.

In my district and across the country, small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Small businesses innovate, know how to operate on a tight budget and know how to create good-paying jobs. I want small businesses in places like Elgin, Illinois, to be able to win government contracts from the Department of Defense because I know they will do more with taxpayer dollars and provide superior products and services for our men and women in uniform.

However, the government is lagging behind on awarding contracts to small businesses. We are not meeting our goal of 23 percent of contracts going to small businesses, and 23 percent is a pretty low bar that we should be raising even higher, not be struggling to meet. It is even more unfortunate that we are also failing to award enough contracts to women- and veteran-owned small businesses.

My amendment seeks to remedy this problem by asking the Small Business Administration and Federal agencies to include remediation plans in their annual reports on small business contracting goals. The government should explain why it is not meeting its small business goals. It should identify faulty past practices and propose new practices to increase small business participation. We need an action plan to support our small businesses, and my amendment will do just that.

I thank Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith and the committee staffs for their help on this amendment, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and our small businesses.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word for the purpose of a colloquy.

A few days ago, a new report by the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General made recommendations that could save taxpayers $126 million and improve border security.

The Department of Homeland Security uses 62 H-60 helicopters, operated by the Coast Guard and the Customs and Border Protection agencies, for mission support, primarily for law enforcement and search and rescue missions. These aircraft are being converted to add 15 years of additional operational life.

The report found that while the Coast Guard properly managed its conversion program, a similar conversion program at Customs and Border Protection led to significant cost overruns and delays that could ground as many as nine of the helicopters beginning in 2014. The IG made what I think is a very good recommendation--have the Coast Guard Aviation Logistics Center conduct the remaining Customs and Border Protection H-60 conversions. According to the IG, the Coast Guard could convert the remaining helicopters much faster and at a lower price tag than CBP. This could save the Department of Homeland Security about $126 million and speed up the time that the aircraft would be operational and patrolling our borders by 7 years.

I was disappointed to hear that rather than implementing this commonsense taxpayer-dollar-saving recommendation in this time of scarce resources, the Department of Homeland Security is choosing instead to conduct a cost-benefit analysis. I think this delay is unnecessary. At a time when the Department of Homeland Security law enforcement personnel are facing furloughs, this is a missed opportunity to save precious funds and to meet the critical goal of improving our border security.

I yield to the chairman.

I yield to the ranking member.

I yield to our chairman.

I thank the chairman and the ranking member for your attention to this matter, and I hope that we can work together to ensure that management of this program is improved.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, America's daughters deserve better. Today, in the United States, women make only 77 cents for every dollar their male peers earn. In my home

State of Illinois, women earn nearly $12,000 a year less than their male counterparts.

During my service in the Army, compared to my male counterparts, I received equal pay for equal work. This policy of fairness has helped make our military the strongest, fiercest in the world.

Pay discrimination doesn't just hurt women; it hurts working families in towns like Itasca and Elgin, Illinois. I know that my neighbors in the Eighth Congressional District believe that their daughters deserve better than this.

Pay equality for women is not only the right thing to do, but it will make our economy stronger; it will make our families stronger; it will make America stronger.

So, on Equal Pay Day, let us recommit ourselves to doing everything in our power to end pay inequality for our country. Congress needs to act now and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act so that women have the opportunity to stand up to this discrimination.

Mr. Speaker, the Ryan budget once again places the burden of deficit reduction on working Americans while failing to stop the frivolous spending of subsidies for oil and gas companies that cost the American people billions of dollars every year.

I'm especially concerned that the Ryan budget will end the guarantee of Medicare for hardworking Americans who have paid into it. Medicare was created precisely because the private market failed to provide seniors with affordable and quality health care.

Even if senior citizens are able to find decent health insurance, they would still have to pay $1,000 more a year for prescription drugs after the Ryan budget reopens the doughnut hole. Overall, their budget will force seniors to pay $59,500 more in health care costs during their retirement. My neighbors, who work so hard to pay their mortgages and send their children to college, can't afford to spend another $59,500.

Rather than ramming through a partisan budget that will never become law, I encourage Congress to work together on a budget that can preserve Medicare, reduce the deficit, and grow our economy.

Mr. Speaker, last week I traveled across my district listening to my neighbors, who cannot afford the cuts that will go into place under sequestration. At Harper College, school superintendents told me that sequestration will cut vital programs and jeopardize the future of our children.

In Hanover Park, I listened to officials discussing desperately needed

transportation investments. With sequestration, we will lose both construction jobs and potential new investments in our business parks.

In Itasca, veterans who would sacrifice everything for our Nation wonder why Congress can't come together and stop the cuts that will hurt this country they love so much. They didn't go home until they got their mission accomplished, and we shouldn't go home until we revolve this self-inflicted crisis.

Both parties agreed to the sequester. The time for finger-pointing and assigning blame is over. We should immediately vote on and pass commonsense measures like stopping Medicare fraud, ending subsidies for oil and gas industries, and ending tax loopholes for large corporations.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up House Resolution 699, a balanced bill to replace the sequester with spending cuts and revenues, a measure that would save thousands of jobs.