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11/22/2005
STATEMENT OF SENATOR TOM HARKIN ON FOOD ASSISTANCE CUTS IN HOUSE BUDGET BILL
Senator Tom Harkin: “Thanksgiving is not
only a time to give thanks for family, friends, and community, it is
also an opportunity for Americans to pause and reflect upon our
obligations to those who, this Thanksgiving, are struggling to make
ends meet. Around the country, millions of Americans are responding by
giving their time and money to help the less fortunate put food on the
table and a roof over their heads. This fall, in the wake of the
devastation brought about by hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma,
Americans have responded in record numbers by opening their homes and
their pocketbooks to the disadvantaged.
“Sadly, at a time when
average Americans are reaching out to friends and strangers alike,
Congress is doing the opposite. Just last week, the House of
Representatives passed a budget bill that would cut federal food
assistance for no less than 225,000 low-income Americans. These cuts
would be felt disproportionately by working families with children and
legal immigrants.
“I am especially troubled
that the House is seeking to cut food assistance for hard-working legal
immigrants. On the first Thanksgiving celebrated on American soil,
native people reached out to European immigrants seeking a better life
overseas and welcomed them to their tables. This Thanksgiving, we
dishonor this memory and the spirit of generosity of the first
Thanksgiving by cutting food assistance to legal immigrants who also
seek a better life in America. America can do better than this.”
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