Arise Citizens’ Policy Project policy analyst Carol Gundlach issued the following statement Friday, May 18, 2018, in response to the U.S. House vote against a Farm Bill that would have cut food assistance for millions of struggling Americans:

“The U.S. House was right to reject a harmful Farm Bill that would have left millions of Americans poorer and hungrier. Congress should abandon this effort to cut food assistance for struggling families and return to our country’s long-standing bipartisan commitment to fighting hunger.

“This flawed Farm Bill would have hurt the economy and deepened poverty by imposing costly, unnecessary new paperwork requirements for participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). These changes would have taken food off the table for tens of thousands of families across Alabama, including children, seniors, parents, veterans, and people with disabilities.

“Alabamians across the political spectrum have long agreed that we share a responsibility to keep our neighbors from going hungry. We urge our state’s House delegation and Senators Doug Jones and Richard Shelby to oppose SNAP cuts that would hurt everyday Americans. They instead should embrace a bipartisan Farm Bill that strengthens SNAP, supports our communities and makes meaningful investments in job training to give low-wage workers an opportunity to climb the economic ladder.”