Press Releases

M. Speaker, each week I come to this floor to talk about ways we can End Hunger Now. I have a simple premise – that hunger is a political condition. That we can end hunger now if we simply muster the political will to do so.

Over the past year, I’ve defended the SNAP program, formerly known as food stamps, I’ve discussed the importance of nutritious school meals, and I’ve sung the praises of the WIC Program. The federal anti-hunger programs are amazing – they are effective and efficient and are preventing hunger from becoming worse than it already is.

But the federal anti-hunger programs can’t do it alone, at least not the way they are currently structured. Despite what many critics claim, the federal anti-hunger programs are too meager and still don’t reach every hungry person in America. And they don’t target the root cause of hunger – poverty.

Because the federal anti-hunger programs are insufficient in many ways, we’ve seen the rise of many non-profit anti-hunger organizations. The majority of these non-profits organizations are food pantries that distribute food to needy people. But there are other, innovative organizations that are doing amazing work.

One such organization is Share Our Strength. Founded by my friends Billy and his sister Debbie Shore, Share Our Strength is an amazing organization that is fighting hunger both through federal and state policy and through programs that directly touch the hungry living in this country.

Their flagship program is the No Child Hungry Campaign. They are working in states across this country to develop statewide plans to end childhood hunger in those participating states. They tailor these programs to fit each state and are focusing, through this program, on the scourge that is child hunger.

Two more of their locally based programs are the Shopping Matters and Cooking Matters programs. The Shopping Matters Programs teaches low-income families how to spend their food dollars – whether it’s cash or from an anti-hunger program – wisely and how to purchase nutritious food with the limited money they have. The Cooking Matters program teaches these families how to cook food in a healthy way.

These three programs show both how important it is to creatively attack the problem of hunger in America and highlight the ways the federal government is failing these low-income families by not doing more.

Just look at the No Child Hungry Campaign. Share Our Strength is targeting states because the federal government hasn’t created a national anti-hunger strategy. Share Our Strength turned to governors because they are willing to do what Congress and the White House aren’t – develop a plan. That’s why I continue to call for a White House Conference on Food and Nutrition – to bring everyone together to develop a plan to End Hunger Now. Governors are doing this for kids, it’s time we do this for everyone.

And look at the Shopping Matters Program and the Cooking Matters Program. These programs exist because Congress has cut the SNAP nutrition education program, necessitating a private, non-profit sector program to teach people how to shop for and cook nutritious food.

Share Our Strength is also conducting outreach and education in different ways. They promote and host events at the national, state, and local levels that ways to combat hunger. These range from bake sales to dining out events to barbeque. And these aren’t just feel good events, these are events that come with teaching programs; programs that allow hosts to promote ways to fight hunger in ways that don’t seem so daunting.

M. Speaker, there are many fantastic anti-hunger organizations both in Washington DC and around this country. Share Our Strength is one of these organizations that does fantastic work. I’m proud of all of these groups that have stepped up to do what the federal government should be doing. I’m proud of everyone who is banding together to fight hunger, to join me in our attempts to End Hunger Now.

However, my goal is to put Share Our Strength, and these other groups, out of business – not because they aren’t a great organization but because they are no longer needed. But the only way to put these groups out of business is by ending hunger and the best way to do so is to increase wages, as well as expand SNAP and other nutrition programs. Until then, we need to ensure that no person in this country goes hungry. And until the federal anti-hunger programs reach everyone they need to in the best way possible, we’re going to need organizations like Share Our Strength to help vulnerable populations.

Finally, M. Speaker, the failure of our government to make ending hunger more of a priority is appalling. To be indifferent – to blame poor people for being poor as some in this House have done is something that should make all of us ashamed. Republican leaders have attacked our anti-hunger programs and the White House, sadly, has been too timid. What we need is a war on poverty in this country, M. Speaker, not another war in Iraq. We can all do better. We can end hunger now. 

I yield back the balance of my time.