During Tuesday's House Democratic leadership press briefing, Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) spoke about the potential cuts to nutritional programs in the proposed budget resolution.
00:00So at this point, I'm going to turn this over to Representative Chantel Brown from Ohio to talk about the terrible cuts that they are doing to food benefits, also for our most vulnerable populations. Thank you.
00:15Thank you, Doctor. Good morning, everyone. I'm Congresswoman Chantel Brown, vice-ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee and representing Ohio's 11th Congressional District.
00:25I'm honored to be here along with Chair Aguilar, Vice Chair Liu, and Congresswoman Schreier.
00:31Last week, we saw this legislation up and close in the Agriculture Committee.
00:36And Ranking Member Craig and my Democratic colleagues on agriculture fought this legislation for two days.
00:42I didn't just read the bill. I felt it. I felt the cruelty. I felt the callousness.
00:49And let me tell you, I was angry. I am still angry.
00:54Three hundred billion dollars in cuts.
00:58Let me repeat that. Three hundred billion dollars in cruel, calculated cuts to nutrition programs.
01:07And on top of that, onerous new restrictions and requirements that are designed to deny people the help they need.
01:16If this bill passes, millions, yes, millions of Americans are going to lose nutrition benefits they desperately need.
01:26And for what? The biggest cut to food assistance in history just to hand millionaires a sixty eight thousand dollar tax break and the top point one percent a staggering three hundred thousand dollars.
01:42Let me tell you what this means for my community.
01:45One in five. One in five households in my district in Northeast Ohio rely on SNAP.
01:51That's not some statistic from somewhere. That's my neighbors. That's my family. Those are my church members. It is me.
02:00Because growing up, I was one of those households. And the issue of work requirements really hits home for me. Literally.
02:09I had epilepsy growing up. I had petite mal seizures. And my mother, my strong, brave, exhausted mother, couldn't work.
02:19Not because she didn't want to, but because she couldn't leave her child who might collapse at any moment.
02:26My mom didn't want to be on food stamps. No parent wants that. But we needed it. And this bill, this bill would have denied us that lifeline.
02:38We're taking assistance away from people that needed to give those resources to people that don't. Make no mistake. This is not fiscal responsibility.
02:51This is not belt tightening. This is a giveaway. People who rely on SNAP, they're not leading easy lives. They're caregivers.
03:01They have people at home with disabilities and serious illnesses. Children. And these folks are not hard to find.
03:09I had one woman contact me. Cheryl from Cleveland Heights. She's retired. Her husband is disabled. Her father is 92 years old and he's disabled.
03:20She worked in advertising for 25 years. Now she's got a house full of people to take care of. And they rely on SNAP.
03:30This bill punishes Cheryl and people like her. It takes away the basic benefits they need to survive, all to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest among us.
03:41And make no mistake, this bill will make us sicker. This bill will make us poor. This bill will make us weaker.
03:50So it is my privilege to stand here with my colleagues and fight this bill. We cannot let this pass. And with that, I am honored to yield back to our chairman.
