End Hunger Now

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for their eloquent statements here today. I think that they have reinforced the point that these nutrition programs work. SNAP works. It has one of the lowest error rates of any Federal program--less than a 4 percent error rate. That includes underpayments, which means that beneficiaries don't get what they are entitled to. It is a program that allows families to put food on the table.

We need to be supporting these programs. We need to be coming up with a holistic plan to end hunger. We need to raise the minimum wage so that people who work, like the majority of able-bodied people do who are on SNAP, don't have to live in poverty. We can do so much better.

I would just say to my Republican colleagues that, rather than doubling down on the cruelness with some of the proposals that have been brought forth before this House, you ought to work in a bipartisan way to actually lift people out of poverty so as to give people the hope and the ability to lead better lives.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to come together and find a way to end hunger now.

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