s.n.a.p. benefit is $1.50 per meal per day and that this will actually go down next year even as we do nothing because of previous cuts in the s.n.a.p. program. by cutting s.n.a.p., you're increasing the burden on the poor who either have to go hungry or somehow found help from non-profits who continue to struggle with donations in this difficult economy. by cutting s.n.a.p., you're decreasing the amount of money spent in communities all around the country causing a further drag on our struggling economy. in fact, these s.n.a.p. cuts would eliminate 19,000 jobs. that's reason enough to vote for our amendment. by the way, a lot of the beneficiaries of the s.n.a.p. program are farmers. there's a lot of hurt out in america today. unemployment is still too high. families have to do more with less. but is going without food acceptable under any circumstances? millions of struggling americans have turned to their government as a last resort. they said, without help, i can't feed my kids. and after spending down most of their savings, selling their cars and making other serious cuts to their own budgets, they put their pride aside and accepted s.n.a.p. to feed their f

s.n.a.p. eligibility. it's outside the s.n.a.p. program for states to deduct medical marijuana expenses to inkre increase s.n.a.p. benefits. it has no business being used to calculate benefits for those who need s.n.a.p. assistance. i find this to be an egregious abuse of taxpayer dollars and encourage my colleagues to support this amendment and put an end to the practice. mr. chairman, before i yield back, i ask that a support letter from the organization, save our society from drugs, be entered in. the letter is at the clerk's table. >> no objection. the letter will be entered into the record. does anyone seek opposition on amendment number one. seeing no other requests for recognition. i support my colleague's dedication effort and suspect and would hope the committee will strongly support your efforts. with that, i yield back. any other requests for recognition? seeing none. you may get the gold star for amendments. all those in favor of amendment number one by the gentle lady, mrs. schmidt, will signify so by saying aye. >> aye. >> all those opposed signified by saying no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes appear to

s.n.a.p. benefits. in practice, that means states can game the system by sending a $1 check which can trigger an increase of up to $130 in s.n.a.p. benefits. closing this loophole ensures that both liheap and s.n.a.p. are targeted to the families who need the assistance. similarly, most states have implemented categorical eligibility for s.n.a.p. which means that any household which benefits from a low income assistance program is automatically eligible for s.n.a.p. benefits. some of these benefits can be as simple as providing a household with a pamphlet or access to a 1-800 hotline number. when states implement categorical eligibility, these households do not need to meet the s.n.a.p. asset or gross income test. this program changes nothing for households that qualify for the program under the rules of the s.n.a.p. law. and those households will continue to receive the benefits level for which they qualify. families that receive cash assistance can still take advantage of categorical eligibility for s.n.a.p. but by ensuring only cash assistance triggers s.n.a.p. eligibility and not other benefits like brochures, we can save billions of dollars over ten years. we have also -- we're also trusting

s.n.a.p. nutrition programs for the states, not individuals. it would end the s.n.a.p. increase from the stemless bill early, currently scheduled for next fall and eliminates the 50/50 s.n.a.p. employment and training for states, requiring states to spend their own money if they would like to fund additional programs of their own. in total, the savings from these reforms together with those in the base bill will achieve savings roughly equal -- it sounds like big numbers. it is, because over the next decade, we will spend approximately $800 billion on s.n.a.p. the savings with this amendment will roughly equal waste, fraud and abuse in the program. and today i believe we have a clear choice with this amendment. will we follow through on the responsible modifications? a strong majority of us agreed a few months ago. will we follow on the belief that the nutrition title could sustain reasonable and responsible savings without impacting those who truly need assistance? will we close the loopholes that certain folks and states are misusing? and make certain that food stamps or slash stamp benefits will go to those in need? i hope so is my answer to those three questions. i beli

s.n.a.p. recipients. the second amendment is less complicated. it is intended to provide the states with greater flexibility in how to choose to make use of supplemental nutrition assistant programs, s.n.a.p., under the employment and training segment of s.n.a.p. if such programs are determined to not only increase the nutritional levels but increase self-sufficiency of those individuals who are on the program. this is what the bridge academy has done in fresno, and it's with this flexibility they have been able to get people off of assistance over the last 18 months. finally, it's necessary for the second amendment for me to mention that these are not advocating for any additional funds. whatever the funding level that we ultimately agree of in a bill that passes this house and gets -- comes out of conference, it wouldn't change any of that. any additional funds to be used for employment and training under s.n.a.p., because the resources that are available for these innovative efforts will come from the flexibility that we would give them for the states on how they can best establish to spend already allocated funds. that's the sense of the two amendments to provide greater flexibility, to have a higher success rate of using the employment a

s.n.a.p. >> yes, they're applying for the s.n.a.p. they comen -- you know, ty have-ll the pde i gon caustheyon'tan t ask for asstan, bu the nee it fee the ildr. they hav fou oiveildr, ree chilen, twochdren theyaveewbaby they need the help. and if it's not there, i can't even imagine what would happen. >> how hard is it to apply? u hp them n't ey hav toake a pe ofaperrk thas bier tn pang thencom tax? yes, ablu. >>ndhey payheir income taxes. and they have to show you. >> if they're self-employed that i do. >> fny ing. >> is a lg oces theyayt'sou to six mth to auall get it. iee filiethateed hp no not ur to x mths ter. th neetno >> thi it's worth noting that we're not talking about a couple million people here. we're tking about 45 million people, which is one insi one sen amerans. ally big,ig morit of peop. anto s that youow, tt unk ameca i loongor handouts or bums not looking for works is really cynical and insulting. >> but it also -- >> a lot of chdren >> aotf kids e otr tng aut thi tt dres m craz ah, you kn, hav see a msive ireas in perty bause wve see a maive decne i incend huge growth in unemployment. i mean i would be perfectly happy if we all got together for policy that put people back to work. buif wreot gng , th ght >> it' tameeoplho we scorngood smps o tnk thnempymenisn'a probm. ght,righ th's pt ofhe prlem, y ow. it this -- if someone sai to me here'the deal on the table, you know, with oar going to cut food starps but we're reay ingo jcep dict hing >>ere's the ful empymen idea >> tt's e pot. th're tsinghisoney ved pay fefic dun. th're ing it t pay for more corporate aggregate business welfare. >> we're gng to tal about the cropssubsies. we'rgointo te a ick eak forehat. [ female announcer ] with swiffer wet cleaning better doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i' gon...u the. ♪ivee jusa lile me ti ♪ [ fele aounc ] unke ms, swfferan meuvr ino tiht sces and s wemoppg clhs c cleabett in lf t tim mom? ♪ ahhhh! ahhhh! no it's mommy! [ female announcer ] swiff. beer can ihalfhe te. or ur mey bk. ♪ thoht ty we dea h? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup. it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back. rondu ro. noeed.o prlem. e glal rdy o ? yeahbut u won'need. ♪ hajimemashite. hajimemashite. hajimemashite. you guys like football ? thank you so much. i'stoked. u sted ?..and say nderhe mtres" sousle melas emails from paris ?hy'the w guse paris, france ? verizon's 4g lte devices are global-ready. plus, global data for just $25. onlyrom rizo >>> i want to bng i sh xby dahert he alseen a foo smp repiento fd a famy aer aerio skig aiden lef him able to worn1997. seth, it'sreat to have you on. can u tell us how you came to know the.n.a.p.rogramhen lledood stas pernall anhow at kdf chaed ur perecti onthis >> well i 1997 w in a hoendo skig accent a bre bo ofy leg a bh of my ankles and was in a wheelchair almost forbout eight months, and, you know, a thatoint coun'trk. dauteras 1 yrold. bacallput wendy milyn a pitiowher we need feral asstan. >>nd hid that change your perspective? did you have ekoneceid eas fore and afteard viouy you comtted yrs t alinwithnger >> uto tt pnt nev h an sues it ner aected me. truthfully i never thought about it because i wasn't impacted by it. what it does is speaks volumes of the ft y corom a noal hum bei to bng s clostoankrtcy d neeng th hel froeder assiancen t bnk o an eye. d it c hpen t met ally can happen to anybody. >> one of the other arguments, there'shis depeency armentnd t oths thers aot of fud iit. 's remisce ofwelfe, welfare queen of ronald reagan. the strapping young buck who ught t-bo stk. here rdpa. >> rentlaoman fak t birtof tplet tecei $21,0 in fooamps nee to rembe that millionaires including larry fix who won $2 million are receiving food smps caus he ss he goto inco. so wre pingmillnair. >>f th 4 miloneopl o od amps how man wou y y ar millionaires, joel? >> one. ok. according to usda -- and this hanot en ctradtedy ev the ipect genal who wa aoint by psidebu. ,1% o fd sta befit are illegally trafficked. 2% of members of the u.s. house of representives have en found guilty of ime. wices mucrime inhe use rreseativ as theris in the fdamps >> is a douestdard thos who tru fl titl anhave gaidhe sysm a so of let off the hook, but it is the case that in this, though, it minds me of t tingraudraudherehey pi, yo kn, thiassi enomon wn, in facthe sh jticeeparent und over t years of voter incidences of fraud. what's also beenost the gradionf our hoiculring i we bac to 74. he tkbout i want telp the po and t huny a not sacrice em t coca-cola. lyndon johnson giving a war on poverty speech to 80,000 sharing people. undeying this ishe mulave iact t tax o govementsnffirtive forc proding secity for ose o inadimesan n ovidsecuty f theelve and eir famies. d ihinkhesere ongoing debates and disputes that people like rand paul don't really, you know prode mucighodde for chpnes >>ou'vbeenroun the ograand y'veotte pple roll init. u'vesed it yourlf. ha you see- wt is yr anecdotal experience of neend fraud? >> i don't see fraud. i see people that really need it. i me thers ppleuthere at ty hao puthe fd on ttae. an it' t oyayhey can do itometesecau the ve sh hh bis. nt i expensiv you know. all utilities are expensive. that's what they count. rent, u know, utilities. it's just --t's stazy. theye no makg mone 's n comg . antheyusteed the lp. iustay t rublins e ting e lenlashg ese benets, t th democratic party too often has been soulless and spineless of late. the decrat-conollesena d cu $4illi out ofhe prram. eympli st ohat w aud ste. itakinrealood awa fro re pele. havaembe of wt w cal our food action board where we organize low income people to fight for their own futu. miss sanchez, she's gng to lo $0 amont ahird o r fd befits t fd her aner cldre becsehe natend t hou hegree that mororpote welfa is more important than the economic development of the anti-help and hung tha food stps pride. cheth, thi thers ceain th or t pulatn at hea abo ts debe a tcheit a tnkst's hard-press t figure that people in america hunge in 2012that it's rea pblem for milons amerans. how you wor wh fol who are th - y do oueacho fos th are may notungry anwork wit fks w are ngry, and how do you explain the fact that this is happening in america in2012? >> well, it isbeuse,ou kn, fit ofll, w heo remberhat,ouknowalf of all eseartipant a chilen. it sury nothehildn at aorki the stem you know? i mean the 1% that is taking advantage of the situation, they're not the kids. we really hav t rembehat lf o tse parcipas a chilen, i worng wh e -- whtherunni the cookg mters claes in inner cities, really teaching children's and fily how to work, shop,cook, and eat on a budget. u kn, i- the laslass i taht wtomelsee elte theyeurel not t os taki advtagehe situation. for people out there to say it's not happening, they're just detached fromwhat's really going on in o cotry. >> ihink --xcusme. t's gre uff, b twa fromseth >>ou'r rerri tis t dye chetfit >> iie dyed it myself. >> i believe that. nice work. >> this is the jacket i wear when tea theook mters assebecae i tnkt rely bdgeshe g, le themnderand a a rl man beg. adeenhereidn't know where my next meal was coming from and it really helps to make me linch k the >>ou mt --oinghis ow ice ek, i s oftomes do tohe sam thg. 's a dcussn of wheerou belie t gornme's rols ctuay hp sietyo we, do better, help people do better, help people who need help or to pretend that y wan gornme to ck ondo noing ileeall in theack or helngourrien a budds. yosee ese thisike ts rand paul thing. your mind just wants to explode. >> i'm glad youade tha poin this ibout theole gornme. thgreathin aut thearm billitxpos tha a lot. the rm bl inoohhoul the rket - t governmt is not -- it's who are we goi to help and where's that money going to go. i want to talk about that. i also want toalk about a propal tt a numr oftate haveeenfferg abo restctinwhatou c rcha thrgh t smp ogra thinthat a reay tereing sue. d li t getourakent ght ter is wtakehis eak. ♪ ♪ wanto g ♪ iant win [ breathes deey ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪ ♪ i want to grow ♪ iant try ♪ canlmostoucthe y malennouer ] en t plat ha an ompicream dois pud touppo thadrea by hpingrovi greer, re stainle sutio from the olympic village to the stadium. solutionism. the new optimism.™ ♪his eam a dy arest tendto sy atest. whe a dy imoti tes tstain tio stayg aive n acuall eae arritisympms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain syourody an sy inotio beuse st o 200mceleex aay can ovid24 hr reef r my wi artitisain d ilammion. us,n clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food d it not nartic. yound yr door shuld lancthe nefi withhe rks. allrescptionsai, le cebrexibupfen, apron, a melicam ave e same cardiovascular warning. they all mayncrease the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance incases f yohaveeartisea or sk ftors ch higbloopresre orhen aidsre ten folongerio. said incdingelebx, ncree thchan of riou skior lergc rectio or smachnd intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspir and the derl e aincrsed sk f stoch bedinand cers do n takceleex iyou' had asta atck, ves, r otr alrgieto air nsids sulnamis. gehelpightway youave swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatme for you. sit lebr.comnd a youroctoabot cebre for bodin mion. [ lahing ...is the crackle of the campfire. it can be a million years old... ol. ...oa feweekyoun ♪ [ augh] way ckon fm orn'selt. ay.is alace hat'closer thayou ink. find your away. for a dealernd the rv that's right for you, sit rvincom. nevenu& ol. olayoiste ba he locin mstur.. whe five blades get venus close. revealing smooth and goddess skin begins. only from venus olay. >>> the government assistance fad stamp program we've been talking abt thimorng, sentlly the u a deb ca and is cditeonhe counand lks n ut to rcha this at the greery stes a thers bn efforts in a number of states to restregt whr restrict what can beurche and what kinfoodsan b purcsed. eates cesromhe lest rhda orms th is h pposi i ohe flooof the senate. >> i really don't think that it's fair that if you're poor, your kid can't have a birthday cake, he can hav pcak wi aandl o , han't ha aandy can forchrimas. y c b floueg, sugar, milk, voila,ou mix it all together, anboom y ve, esswh, a ke. the wouctuay t guelin tha are alrdy i placor tyc program. who yo thibout the govementestrtinghatou canr cant purchase? >> think it's a good idea. it should be good nutritious food. the problem is a lot of peoe dot know how to me tse mealor ty d'tave the capaliti se o theven beuse ey d't hehe eltricn, yknowose a ste. so-ut i delie tha it woulenef people to be restricted on what they could buy and should buy. >> you don't think -- that's interestg. yo say you don flike tha that big broerr tt's rerictg yo fedom and ur chce. no. beuse is supsed b ther to pplent itike t wyc program. they give you -- they tell you exactly what you're allowed to buy, you know. i think even they're trying to n sod fm scols. sof toverent ryin to hp u wh the foo suppment i bieve tha it shou be use f t rig foodfor you cldre becse th's wt you're there for. you want to put nutritious mea theble. >> do u thkhat' a wely he viewmonghose who reive >> no. i tnk - i kw it' no ok, ppleecei fd stamps. they're very diverse. but i think yourob -- your job of tryg to convince people that it's okay to get this program is goi to haer. yen t msaget's ay f usoat this fdn th ble, wch m n -- e y, this suprtedy outaxllar farm subsidies went into this. these were transported over government roads. >> right. >> the truth of the matter i theye to e heahily 80% lowncom peoe ck at homet lea fou timsweek the top food purchased on the program is a banana. you had great recipe recently fo a cocut ca. i ink da sulde a meti fooikeour conut ca wit lotofream and suga shod b a somime foo dhink lncom peoe shldave mor food stamp allotments so they can afford to buy healthier food, not have their diets miomanedy uncl sa >> it. you ote outroatorm- >>oelnd iarge aee o is. oh,ome that disappointing. >> we largely agree that the food stamp program should be supported. of cours we do disagree on whher od stashoulbe limid inhat ey c buy you ow,ee - i thi s it is rllyherimeampl and deet- i a y, if you're -- if you're allowing people with food stamps to buy soda and, you know as well as i that the fdtamp speing is ntranaren don kw exaly wre thi moneisgoin wdon' kw wh kin o fds bng boht i genel,veryime u're buyg da, you're subsidizing big food with food stamps and you're increasing our health care issues. so you're incasinurealt care oble. >>rit. so, yes,t's miti,ut the are aeady lims tod star. >>ren'theralso sious issues in communities where you don't have access to low cheese or low cost healthy foods. iean theonin of- ease th iant to g cf sh t waitn . >>he tng that we probably all agree on is there are ways in which food stamps are bng expanded right now, and that includes thingsike heahy llaror wteve it'lled ese this wre- >>ealt buc. >>ealtbuckrigh whe tiesnd stasrencreing vae ofoodtamp that are used at farmers' markets. so it's expanding the ability of food stamps. if you spend a dolr or get $2 or a dlar or whr. u're eandi . >>o th cret is-o the's reedit uan g a bigger bang for your buck. chef seth, i want you to give us your thought on these effor to rericthat fks areuyin withhetamp proam rig afr weake quicbrea tdd#-80045-20 let'talkboutees. td 1-8-3455. td 1-8-3550 acunt rvicfees td 1-8-345550and e mo dreed fs of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. td 1-8-345550no mthlyccou serc. td 1-8-345550noiddefees td d# 100-3-255anwe rate ery me beuse en icometo lkin the is fee untii show thethis the w or-b p-heah inic bru. s prflexides adju to eth d gu for bett cle. thnew o-heth clicalrushrom al-b >>chef th, i aed you before the break what you thought on the interesting purchases with people of s.n.a.pe who try to mak the decions d te pple who are strglin wit hunrhat ey suld , tyrobay ha ner ft tt fce of hung theelve youkn,nd theyighte havg lober and stkor dinr a th're telling someone who's struggling what to buy. think any food is better than no food and obviously i want people to eat hlthy food and so t k comnento this ise i edatio yoknow sf y he mon d yo don kw h t cook/shop, then it really makes it difficult to make good decisions based around hunger. that's why i think these cooking matts classes tt i hel teac tt sha sengt hel stard, t s.a.progr nds ese pgram is so portt bauseteally gives these people the knowledge of food and cooking, and it's something that -- it's a life skill that in ourultu has been tak aw, and is she. andour ograis fund b n.a. andouldeut uer the use llf i n miaken >> y, ye i pernall fee have this tremendous great gift of cooking, the most urging persistent question i askysel ery y isow d i tak thi ft thelpthereopl it wld ba rea sme to he th gif tak ay fro

s.n.a.p. >> yes, they're applying for the s.n.a.p. they come in -- you know, they have -- all their pride is gone because they don't want to ask for assistance, but they need it to feed their children. they have four or five children, three children, two children, they have a new baby. they need the help. and if it's not there, i can't even imagine what would happen. >> how hard is it to apply? you help them. don't they have to take a pile of paperwork that's bigger than paying their income taxes? >> yes, absolutely. >> and they pay their income taxes. and they have to show you. >> if they're self-employed that i do. >> funny thing. >> it's a long process. they say it's four to six months to actually get it. i see families that need help now. not four to six months later. they need it now. >> i think it's worth noting that we're not talking about a couple million people here. we're talking about 45 million people, which is one in six, one in seven americans. really a big, big minority of people. and to say that, you know, that chunk of america is looking for handouts or bums not looking for works is really cynical and insulting. >> but it also -- >> a lot of children. >> a lot of kids. the other thing about this that drives me crazy, yeah, you know, we have seen a massive increase in poverty because we've seen a massive decline in income and huge growth in unemployment. i mean i would be perfectly happy if we all got together for policy that put people back to work. but if we're not going do, that right -- >> it's the same people who were scorning food stamps who think that unemployment isn't a problem. >> right, right. that's part of the problem, you know. it's this -- if someone said to me here's the deal on the table, you know, with oar going to cut food starps but we're really going to juice up direct hiring -- >> where's the full employment idea? >> that's the point. they're not using this money saved to pay for deficit reduction. they're using it to pay for more corporate aggregate business welfare. >> we're going to talk about the crops subsidies. we're going to take a quick break before that. [ female announcer ] with swiffer wet cleaning better doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm gonna...use these. ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] unlike mops, swiffer can maneuver into tight spaces and its wet mopping cloths can clean better in half the time. mom? ♪ ahhhh! ahhhh! no it's mommy! [ female announcer ] swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. ♪ thought they were dead. huh? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup. it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back. roundup. no root. no weed. no problem. the global ready one ? yeah, but you won't need... ♪ hajimemashite. hajimemashite. hajimemashite. you guys like football ? thank you so much. i'm stoked. you stoked ? totally. ... and he says, "under the mattress." souse le matelas. ( laughter ) why's the new guy sending me emails from paris ? paris, france ? verizon's 4g lte devices are global-ready. plus, global data for just $25. only from verizon. >>> i want to bring in seth bixby daugherty. he's also been a food stamp recipient to feed a family after a serious skiing accident left him unable to work in 1997. seth, it's great to have you on. can you tell us how you came to know the s.n.a.pthen called food stamps personally and how that kind of changed your perspective on this? >> well, in 1997 i was in a horrendous skiing accident and broke both of my legs and both of my ankles and was in a wheelchair almost for about eight months, and, you know, at that point i couldn't work. my daughter was 1 year old. basically put my wife and my family in a position where we needed federal assistance. >> and how did that change your perspective? did you have prekon received ideas before and afterward obviously you committed yours to dealing with hunger. >> up to that point i never had any issues. it never affected me. truthfully i never thought about it because i wasn't impacted by it. what it does is speaks volumes of the fact you can go from a normal human being to being so close to bankruptcy and needing that help from federal assistance in the blink of an eye. and if it can happen to me, it really can happen to anybody. >> one of the other arguments, there's this independency ar

s.n.a.p. program, which many members of this committee along with myself want to protect. yet increased costs to consumers of dairy products also means that programs like s.n.a.p. will pay more for dairy products or simply stop helping tens of thousands of people in need. now, please let me just reemphasize for a moment that the stabilization program that our amendment will take out would artificially reduce the supply of milk throughout this country, thereby increasing milk and dairy product prices for consumers. as milk prices increase, our lower income consumers are hit especially hard. these are tough economic times and as i mentioned, it is a fact that they spend a higher proportion of their income on food than all other consumers. this amendment actually saves more money than the underlying dairy bill. and yet, it is more affordable for small farmers with premiums for farmers with 250 cows or fewer, that are lower than those included in the chairman's mark. there are no payment limits and farms of all sizes can select any amount of milk production up to 80% of the operation's historic milk production and by margin protection in 50 cent increments from $4