Welfare Integrity and Data Improvement Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. MOORE. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3659.

This bill was taken out of the 360-page tax extenders bill, and essentially the authors of this bill have brought it up so that they could just have another kick at poor people. The bill sort of suggests that people who are poor are of very low moral character and that they can't be trusted to use their EBT cards in liquor stores or casinos, so therefore we need to make some restrictions on how they can use EBT cards.

But before we start kicking poor people yet another time, I just want to remind everyone of data that were just released today which indicate that one half of all Americans are poor and that these people may find themselves eligible for benefits under this Electronic Benefit Transfer card.

Earlier this week, Congressman John Lewis and I tried to strike this language from the bill--with no success.

The provision that blocks EBT cards from being used in liquor stores, casinos and strip clubs doesn't consider a couple of things. It doesn't consider the tremendous cost that this will have on financial institutions, which will have to reconfigure their cards. It also doesn't consider the distance for many Americans. There are 23 million Americans who live in so-called ``food deserts'' where there is not access to a grocery store or to an EBT machine within walking distance.

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Ms. MOORE. Before I close, I would just like to mention one personal experience that I had just this last week.

After having suffered an aneurysm, one of my sisters was on her way back to the hospital this morning. Because I didn't have access to a vehicle, I went and purchased the last meal that I gave her before I journeyed back to Washington, D.C. I bought her 100 percent orange juice from a liquor store that was within walking distance of my home.

So it may be an unintended consequence, but this is just a mean-spirited effort to, one more time, kick the poor people who are now half of all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, here we are once again. Like a broken record the Republican leadership continues to play the same sad song. One that claims to help the poor and middle class but in the end will only exacerbate our already weak economy.

As always, the devil is in the details. This so called Welfare Integrity and Data Improvement Act will only help to make an already broken program worse while also restricting access for our most vulnerable families.

But be careful.

New Census data released today reveals that 1 in 2 Americans have fallen into poverty. One half of all Americans are now either poor or low-income!!!

The rate at which women and children are being thrown under the bus is a strong indication that TANF has systematically failed to close the expanding poverty gap, build pathways to sustainable employment, and has done little to alleviate the problem of growing chronic poverty.

Now, as we go into TANF's third extension, Republicans want to impose additional barriers on families to further hinder their ability to access much needed benefits in these tough economic times.

This bill includes a harmful provision that blocks EBT cards from being used at liquor stores, casinos and strip clubs.

Mr. Speaker, this is an issue of access. In many neighborhoods, the closest ATM is located in a nearby liquor store.

We don't want to encourage people to go to liquor stores or casinos but what are low-income families supposed to do when they can't even access benefits to feed their families in their own neighborhoods?

There has been no consideration of the cost associated with implementing this policy, or to the kinds of burdens that it will undoubtedly place on states and financial institutions who will have to reconfigure thousands of ATMs.

Earlier this week, Congressman John Lewis and I attempted to strike this language from the tax extenders bill, but Republicans refused to consider any amendments both on the floor and in the Rules Committee.

Here we are. Up against many deadlines and someone took the time to pull this language out of a 370 page bill so that they could kick people who are down with further restrictions.

I hope that the American people can see that Republicans are simply playing political theater, trying to further humiliate and marginalize poor people while stonewalling any and all efforts for Democrats to pass meaningful legislation that will truly provide opportunities for all people.

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