Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed were two of the nine Democrats who voted no on the latest version of the farm bill, which slashes food stamps by $8 billion over the next 10 years. When the original Senate farm bill (which would have cut nutrition programs by $4 billion) passed, our Senators were the only Democrats voting no.
In the final bill, they picked up no votes from seven other Democrats, including the Senators from our neighboring states–Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). Because a surprising number of progressives, including Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), voted with leadership on this one, our senators’ principled votes are especially meaningful.
In the house, both of our Congressmen voted no, too. David Cicilline took to the floor to deliver one of his best speeches yet, deploring the cruelty of cutting anti-hunger programs.
Although we lost this battle, because our delegation put up such a hard fight, they almost certainly kept the cuts from being even worse than they are. They deserve our gratitude today.
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Speaking about the controversial Farm Bill that also authorizes funding food stamps, Congressman David Cicilline said the House GOP “made a clear choice to protect generous subsidies for agriculture corporations at the expense of the hungry and working poor.”
He’s right. According to the New York Times: “Republicans muscled a pared-back agriculture bill through the House on Thursday, stripping out the food stamp program to satisfy recalcitrant conservatives but losing what little Democratic support the bill had when it failed last month. It was the first time food stamps had not been a part of the farm bill since 1973.”
Cicilline said about 1/5 of Rhode Island will be adversely affected by the GOP’s decision.
“Make no mistake today House Republicans are telling hungry children food banks struggling to meet the needs of their community and low-income seniors who depend on food assistance that there needs don’t matter,” he said. “They are not extraneous. This is disgraceful, it’s immoral and it’s contrary to our values as a nation.”
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