DeLauro defends opposition to WIC funding bill
October 07, 2013 | 01:00 AM
The House on Thursday voted to provide funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) during the shutdown but Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., one of the most vigorous advocates of nutrition programs, voted against it and said in a floor statement Friday that the Republican bill was “disingenuous.”
The vote was 244 to 164, with 22 Democrats joining the Republicans in voting for it and 23 members not voting. It was one of a series of votes that Republicans have sponsored to fund individual government programs or agencies while leaving the rest of the government shut down.
Both the National WIC Association and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities opposed the bill. The Obama administration has made funding available to all the states for benefits to be paid in the month of October.
In a floor statement, DeLauro said:
“I rise in opposition to this cruel political game the majority is playing at the expense of American families. Let us get this straight: Ever since they took office, this Republican majority has repeatedly tried to slash the Women and Infant Children feeding program. They tried it in 2011, 2012, 2013. They will try it next year and the year after that.”
“I sit on the Agricultural Appropriations subcommittee,” DeLauro said. “This past summer, on a party line vote, Republican members voted to slash WIC funding by over 7 percent, and take nutritious food from 200,000 pregnant mothers and infants. I introduced an amendment to restore this critical funding, and this majority shot it down.
“When it mattered, when we all voted on this issue for real, the majority cut this funding. And now they are trying to use these low-income families for a political message. This is disingenuous. It is duplicitous. And it is shameful.
“I have strongly supported the Women and Infant Children Feeding Program my entire career and when I served as chairwoman of the Ag-Appropriations subcommittee, the Democrats funded WIC at record levels, and expanded it as need rose during the recession.
“We are talking about people’s lives. The majority chose to shut down the government, and families across America are being affected in countless different ways. Furloughs are hitting private companies. Families and small businesses cannot get loans. Biomedical and scientific research has stopped. Food safety, food banks, flu tracking, federal economic reports, and immunizations have all stopped because of what the Republican majority is doing here.
“And now, after this majority has repeatedly cut WIC funding, after they have shut the entire federal government down and taken the economy hostage, now we are meant to believe that they have all come to Jesus, and they want to do right by the families they have been actively trying to starve? Why, just last month, this majority — on a party line vote — took food stamps from over 4 million low-income families, seniors, veterans, and children.
“The gamesmanship is heartless and it is offensive. The government now been shut down for four days. Do not use hungry families as political pawns. ... It is time to stop these bills and fund the entire government. I urge all of my colleagues to oppose this resolution.”
The vote was 244 to 164, with 22 Democrats joining the Republicans in voting for it and 23 members not voting. It was one of a series of votes that Republicans have sponsored to fund individual government programs or agencies while leaving the rest of the government shut down.
Both the National WIC Association and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities opposed the bill. The Obama administration has made funding available to all the states for benefits to be paid in the month of October.
In a floor statement, DeLauro said:
“I rise in opposition to this cruel political game the majority is playing at the expense of American families. Let us get this straight: Ever since they took office, this Republican majority has repeatedly tried to slash the Women and Infant Children feeding program. They tried it in 2011, 2012, 2013. They will try it next year and the year after that.”
“I sit on the Agricultural Appropriations subcommittee,” DeLauro said. “This past summer, on a party line vote, Republican members voted to slash WIC funding by over 7 percent, and take nutritious food from 200,000 pregnant mothers and infants. I introduced an amendment to restore this critical funding, and this majority shot it down.
“When it mattered, when we all voted on this issue for real, the majority cut this funding. And now they are trying to use these low-income families for a political message. This is disingenuous. It is duplicitous. And it is shameful.
“I have strongly supported the Women and Infant Children Feeding Program my entire career and when I served as chairwoman of the Ag-Appropriations subcommittee, the Democrats funded WIC at record levels, and expanded it as need rose during the recession.
“We are talking about people’s lives. The majority chose to shut down the government, and families across America are being affected in countless different ways. Furloughs are hitting private companies. Families and small businesses cannot get loans. Biomedical and scientific research has stopped. Food safety, food banks, flu tracking, federal economic reports, and immunizations have all stopped because of what the Republican majority is doing here.
“And now, after this majority has repeatedly cut WIC funding, after they have shut the entire federal government down and taken the economy hostage, now we are meant to believe that they have all come to Jesus, and they want to do right by the families they have been actively trying to starve? Why, just last month, this majority — on a party line vote — took food stamps from over 4 million low-income families, seniors, veterans, and children.
“The gamesmanship is heartless and it is offensive. The government now been shut down for four days. Do not use hungry families as political pawns. ... It is time to stop these bills and fund the entire government. I urge all of my colleagues to oppose this resolution.”
