McGovern: GOP Bill Forcing SNAP Recipients to Pass Drug Test is an Insult to America’s Most Vulnerable Families

Congress Should Strengthen Anti-Hunger Programs, Not Attack Families in Need

Washington, DC, February 12, 2016

On the House floor today, Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) called out a Republican bill introduced yesterday that would let states use drug testing to determine low-income Americans’ eligibility to receive food assistance through SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Congressman McGovern has consistently called for Congress to strengthen SNAP and has cautioned against opening the Farm Bill to make changes to the anti-hunger program.

Click here to watch the speech online.

The full text of Congressman McGovern’s speech is below:

“I rise today to oppose a Republican bill introduced yesterday that would let states use drug testing to determine low-income Americans’ eligibility to receive food assistance through SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“This is nothing more than an attempt to demonize poor people and has no basis in reality.

“Similar laws in Florida and Georgia were struck down as unconstitutional and only waste thousands of taxpayer dollars to identify very few drug users. In fact, those receiving public assistance actually test positive at a lower rate than the general population.

“Why aren’t my Republican colleagues calling for drug testing for wealthy CEOs and oil company executives who receive taxpayer subsidies? Why is it that they always pick on poor people? It’s a lousy thing to do.

“SNAP is intended to help people put food on the table when they’re struggling to find work, when their current job isn’t paying enough, or simply when they’ve fallen on hard times.

“We should be talking about improving the SNAP benefit so families can afford nutritious food – not creating more insulting hoops for vulnerable families to have to jump through.”

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