House abandonment of nutrition items in farm bill called 'misguided'
Denise Green displays her "Independence Card," which is issued by the state of Maryland and holds federal SNAP benefits, at her home in Silver Spring, Md. She purchases her food with help of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Green worries that she and others will be affected by House members' decision in mid-July to pass a farm bill without funding for nutrition programs. (CNS/Bob Roller)
by Mark Pattison , Catholic News Service | Jul. 22, 2013
Washington--As Congress lurches toward its summer recess, inside and outside the corridors of Congress, people have been asking, "What in Sam Hill is going on with the House on the farm bill?"
"It's anachronistic, unworkable," said Bob Gronski, a policy adviser for the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, about a decision by members of the House to abandon nutrition items in the farm bill, saying they will deal with food assistance programs later. "The message that sends is: 'I don't understand what the House is thinking.'"
"It is a very confusing, misguided and dysfunctional process," said Roger Johnson, head of the National Farmers Union.
"In my 25 years of working of working on farm issues, this has been a really different way of how lawmakers are acting," said Kathryn Ozer of the National Family Farm Coalition.
http://ncronline.org/news/politics/house-abandonment-nutrition-items-farm-bill-called-misguided
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