WEYI/WSMH: Congresswoman McDonald Rivet Slams Efforts To Cut Funding for SNAP

WASHINGTON - During a hearing on Tuesday, Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08) slammed efforts to cut funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The budget proposal passed in February included $230 billion in cuts to the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture's programs. Congresswoman McDonald Rivet says a substantial portion of these cuts would come from SNAP.

“In my state on a daily basis 20% of our kids are wondering where their next meal is coming from. At the same time, we have seen cuts to the operational grants to our food banks; we have had food delivery in our communities halted; a $1 billion cut to the school food program; and now we're looking at $220 billion of cuts to SNAP," said McDonald Rivet.

She continued by saying that defunding these programs is equivalent to tolerating children going hungry.

“And it seems to me that we are in a place right now as a country that we have to think about whether or not a better America includes a tolerance for hungry children," she said. "Because that's what this is actually about. What is the percentage of America's kids we’re OK being hungry? Is that number 20%, where we sit now? Because I can tell you for me, in one of the strongest, richest countries in the world, that number needs to be 0, and we are not moving in that direction.”

In mid-Michigan, approximately 148,000 individuals across over 59,000 households who use SNAP benefits.

You can watch her full remarks above.