Hello Colleagues, Please take time out of your busy schedules and support
this legislative activity. Thanks.
an
Amy Nickerson, MS, RD
Vermont Dept of Aging & Disabilities
103 South Main Street
Waterbury, Vermont 05671
Phone: 802-241-2930
FAX: 802-241-2325
-----Original Message-----
From: On the Pulse [mailto:pulse@eatright.org]
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 6:21 PM
To: amyn@dad.state.vt.us
Subject: ACTION ALERT! CALL YOUR SENATORS
ACTION ALERT
SENATE TAKES UP FARM BILL
Congress this year must reauthorize food and agricultural programs. This
week, the Senate is taking up an omnibus measure addressing the spectrum of
services provided and administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
including food assistance, food safety, food and nutrition research as well
as conservation, agriculture and trade programs. Congress and the
administration are working together to craft the optimum mix of programs and
proper incentives to strengthen the nutrition safety net, facilitate
prosperity in the farming sector, protect and care for natural resources,
and assure consumer confidence.
Advocates for the poor were bolstered last month when President Bush
announced his support for making food stamps available once again to many
legal immigrants living in poverty. The President also announced he wanted
additional funding for the WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
Women, Infants and Children) program to allow it to serve nearly 8 million
eligible women, infants and children each month.
Strengthening the nutrition safety net has the support of a bipartisan group
of lawmakers, armed with statistics about hunger in the United States.
According to America's Second Harvest, more than 23 million people sought
and received emergency hunger relief from the nation's emergency food
providers in 2001. In contrast, the nation's food stamp program was serving
only about 17 million people in early 2001. There is consensus that many
hungry people are not seeking or getting access to federal food assistance
and that legislative change is needed in the program authorizations.
The Food Research Action Center (FRAC) is supporting two amendments to the
Farm Bill, S. 1731. One would move $1.4 billion over a ten-year period into
the food stamp program to cover the costs of restoring food stamp
eligibility for legal immigrants residing in the United States for at least
five years (Durbin (D-IL) amendment). The other adds roughly $825 million
over ten years for food stamp benefit improvements, especially through
deduction adjustments for families with children and through deductions for
households with high shelter costs (Grassley (R-IA), Dorgan (D-ND) and
Johnson (D-SD) amendment.)
ADA supports strengthening the nutrition title of S. 1731.
* Call your senators today.
* Tell them that the Food Stamp and the WIC (Special Supplemental
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) programs provide vital
assistance to Americans who need extra help in difficult economic
conditions.
* Ask them to support the Durbin and Grassley/Dorgan/Johnson
amendments to the farm bill that will restore food stamp benefits to legal
immigrants and improve access to food assistance.
* Let them know that nutrition matters in the lives of all Americans
and that dollars spent on food and nutrition programs are an investment in
America's future.
For additional information, contact Ron Smith, Director of Government
Relations in ADA's Washington office at 1/800/877-0877.
Please email Mary Lee Sell, Manager of Legal and Political Affairs, at
msell@eatright.org in ADA's Washington office to inform her of the actions
you took and the responses you have received.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Feb 07 2002 - 05:58:02 PST