MOTION TO INSTRUCT CONFEREES ON H.R. 2646, FARM SECURITY ACT OF 2001 -- (Extensions of Remarks - April 23, 2002)

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SPEECH OF HON. JAMES P. MORAN

OF VIRGINIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Thursday, April 18, 2002

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my friend, Representative BACA, and his motion to instruct farm bill conferees to restore food stamp benefits to immigrants.

The Baca motion supports immigrants being allowed to apply for food stamps if they are low-income and have been in the United States for 5 or more years. Children would also be eligible for food stamps regardless of when they entered the United States.

In my congressional district, the restoration of food stamps benefits is very important. Everyday, many of my constituents, who often hold more than one job, wake up and go to work to provide for their families. Studies have shown that 43 percent of legal immigrants are working jobs that pay less than $7.50 an hour, with little increase in wage rates.

Restoring these benefits would be inexpensive. In fact, the cost for restoring these benefits has already been built into the $6.4 billion allotment for the nutrition title in the farm bill.

The diet of our nation's children and families, whether they were born in the United States or somewhere else, should be one of the most important considerations in this year's farm bill debate. Restoring food stamps benefits to immigrants would be a step in the right direction.

While the Senate and House farm bill conferees continue to work hard to reconcile the differences in their farm bills, I urge them to consider the Baca motion and make restoring food stamps benefits to our hardworking immigrants a reality.
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