{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2012-12-31-pt1-PgE2025-2", "2012-12-31", 112, 2, null, null, "SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP)", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "ALLOTHER", "E2025", "E2026", "[{\"name\": \"Mike Quigley\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "158 Cong. Rec. E2025", "Congressional Record, Volume 158 Issue 171 (Monday, December 31, 2012)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 171 (Monday, December 31, 2012)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Pages E2025-E2026]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n            SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP)\n\n                                 ______\n\n                           HON. MIKE QUIGLEY\n\n                              of illinois\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                       Monday, December 31, 2012\n\n  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because in the coming week,\nmost of us will sit down to a holiday meal with our families, friends,\nand loved ones.\n  And most of us will take this meal for granted.\n  But for 46 million Americans who rely on nutrition assistance, this\nholiday meal is not a guarantee.\n  The vast majority--more than 85 percent--of these 46 million\nAmericans are living in households making less than $22,000 for a\nfamily of four.\n  And of those 46 million, half are children, and three-quarters are\nhouseholds that include an elderly person, a disabled person, or\nchildren.\n  For these millions of families, food is not a certainty, and they\nstruggle each day to make ends meet.\n  Sadly, due to the recession, an increasing number of Americans have\nlost their jobs and been forced to turn to the supplemental nutrition\nassistance program, or SNAP.\n  As the number of unemployed Americans increased 94 percent between\n2007 and 2011, SNAP increased as well, rising 70 percent to meet\ndemand.\n  At the food pantries in my district, pantry visits have increased\nbetween 8 and 30 percent from last year. While the economy is\nimproving, the number of individuals in need of assistance is still\nelevated.\n  Rather than cutting food assistance right now, we should be\nbolstering it.\n  Unfortunately, some members of this body have targeted food\nassistance, arguing it should be cut to balance the budget and avert\ncuts to defense.\n  The Ryan budget proposed cutting SNAP by $133 billion.\n  A cut of this magnitude would cut almost 10 million people off from\nfood aid, or would result in a benefit cut of $90 per month for a\nfamily of four.\n  For a family with a net monthly income of $338--the average for most\nSNAP households--a $90 cut would be devastating.\n  I agree with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: We must\nreduce the deficit.\n\n[[Page E2026]]\n\n  And that means raising revenues and implementing cuts.\n  But both revenue increases and cuts must be strategic, not simple.\n  The tax code should be simplified, tax expenditures should be\nscrutinized, and tax increases should be progressive.\n  Similarly, spending reductions should be based on a reexamination of\nwhat we need to remain competitive in a global economy.\n  For instance, we should continue to invest in education, job\ntraining, infrastructure, and yes food assistance to keep Americans\nsuccessful and competitive.\n  We should cut outdated spending on defense expenditures, such as our\nout-sized nuclear stockpile and permanent troops in Europe.\n  We should also reform our entitlements, such as Medicare, by paying\nproviders for outcomes and quality, combating waste and fraud, and\ndemanding higher rebates from drug companies.\n  The truth is, food assistance comprises just two percent of the\nfederal budget.\n  And contrary to the claims by the some that food assistance is\nunsustainable--SNAP is expected to drop from .52 percent of GDP in 2011\nto just .3 percent as the economy recovers. This is hardly an\nunsustainable trend.\n  In fact, according to Moody's Analytics every $1 dollar invested in\nSNAP yields $1.72 in economic benefit.\n  As we speak, negotiators are sitting down to determine what a final\ndeficit reduction package will look like.\n  I hope that as they debate the final deal, and look forward to\nspending the holidays indulging with their families, they remember the\nmillions of families that aren't as lucky.\n  I hope they remember the millions of children, parents, elderly, and\ndisabled Americans who rely on SNAP to avoid going hungry.\n  I recently had the privilege of volunteering at the Greater Chicago\nFood Depository, which provides food to over half a million Chicagoans\nevery year.\n  I met some of the folks who rely on SNAP and I heard their stories.\n  And I can tell you, they are not takers.\n  They are our friends and neighbors who have fallen on hard times and\nneed our help.\n  I won't soon forget them, and I hope those crafting the deficit\nreduction package won't either."]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2012-12-31-pt1-PgE2025-2"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 55.743915028870106, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}