Washington, D.C. – Bread for the World today released the following statement regarding passage of the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2 – better known as the “Farm Bill”) by the House of Representatives. The statement can be attributed to Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World:
“Traditionally, the Farm Bill is a bipartisan bill. While we are pleased that the House bill maintains and improves international food aid programs, we are concerned that the legislation would increase hunger and poverty in the United States.
“The House bill cuts billions of dollars in food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which would cause more than two million people to lose their benefits or see them reduced. Much of this money would be used to pay for a new SNAP bureaucracy to enforce work requirements.
“Instead of creating a large bureaucracy, lawmakers should focus on policies that are more likely to improve job opportunities such as infrastructure funding that connects low-income workers to jobs.
“We urge the Senate to pass their bipartisan Farm Bill, without harmful amendments. The Senate bill continues strong funding for U.S. international food assistance programs and rejects the broad, sweeping cuts to domestic nutrition assistance programs found in the House bill.”
Rev. Beckmann and Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, co-convener of the National African American Clergy Network, drafted an op-ed about the House farm bill which was published by The Hill.
