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Reverse SNAP judgment

I am frustrated that Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ party continues its assault on our neighbors struggling with poverty. The House of Representatives just released its new budget, and it would serve one purpose: to make the wealthy wealthier and the poor poorer.

To help pay for new, costly tax cuts, it would convert the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) into a lump sum payment to states. This would force millions of hungry Americans off the program.

Does McMorris Rodgers forget, or not care, that the primary beneficiaries of SNAP are children, the elderly and the disabled? Why does she ignore that SNAP has been shown to improve nutrition and health outcomes in children? Why does she balk at SNAP’s 96 percent accuracy, and only 1 percent fraud rate?

The simple fact is that if SNAP were a corporate program, Congress would be holding it up as a model of effectiveness and efficiency. When it comes to reducing hunger and poverty, our investments in SNAP are working. McMorris Rodgers needs to tell her congressional teammates the truth about the food program and stop trying to screw it up.

I urge our members of Congress to stand up for hungry families and reject any budget that proposes to cut or restructure SNAP.

Debbie Detmer

Spokane

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