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Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-20) spoke this evening on the House floor to urge House Republicans to abandon their plans to cut $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

According to most recent data from the USDA, more than 30,000 households in the Capital Region rely on SNAP benefits. The program has a multiplier effect on the economy, resulting in $1.80 in economic activity for every dollar in SNAP benefits.

Click here to watch Rep. Tonko’s speech and see below for a full transcript:

Thank you, M. Speaker

More than 30,000 families in New York’s Capital Region rely on SNAP benefits to put dinner on the table every night. Nationally, about 87% of families on food stamps include a child, a senior citizen, or a disabled person. These people are hungry. They are not criminals.

Yet House Republicans are trying to cut $40 billion from this critical program – ten times the amount the Senate has proposed – without first looking at closing tax loopholes for major corporations or cutting subsidies to oil companies.

These benefits are not luxuries, M. Speaker. These are basic, sustainable meals that will keep our unemployed and underemployed nourished until they find the job that lets them support themselves and their family on their own.

If House Republicans truly want to reduce food stamp rolls and decrease how much our nation spends on the SNAP program, then they need to join Democrats and get serious about creating quality, well-paying jobs instead of trying to balance the budget on the backs of our country’s most vulnerable.

Thank you, M. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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