CONGRESSMAN ADAM GRAY STATEMENT ON HOUSE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE RECONCILIATION PROPOSAL

WASHINGTON, DC- Congressman Adam Gray (D-Merced) yesterday voted against the House Agriculture Committee's reconciliation proposal. The bill, as written by the committee's Republican majority, included $230 billion worth of cuts to agricultural programs. The cuts almost entirely came from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) program, which provides food benefits to low-income families across the country.

In Congressman Gray's district, more than one in five householdsrely on SNAP benefits and over 18% of households fall below the poverty line, well above the California average. SNAP benefits ensure that the 47,708 participating households in Congressman Gray's district can purchase nutritious groceries. According to the California Association of Food Banks, SNAP benefits produce $664 million in total economic activity and support over 5,000 jobs in Congressman Gray's district.

Congressman Gray gave the following statement during his opening remarks.

"I live in rural America, where people respect their neighbors and take care of each other. I don't have any neighbors, Democrat or Republican, who think the biggest problem in this country is that somebody is getting a meal they didn't deserve or that too many kids are getting fed.

"America is a great country with great people, and they certainly deserve a hell of a lot better than [these proposed cuts]. I hope we can find a way back, a return to a bipartisan process and do the right thing for our farmers and our communities."

During the markup, Congressman Gray offered two amendments to the package. These amendments-one to require regular updates from the Secretary of Agriculture on their work to increase market access for farmers and one to require at least 30 days' notice to Congress ahead of any executive order that could impact agricultural trade-were both pieces of legislation originally proposed by Republican members of the Agriculture Committee.

Rather than vote in favor of policy originally proposed by their party colleagues, each of the Agriculture Committee's Republican members opposed Congressman Gray's amendments.

The committee's proposal will be tied to similar packages from other House committees to be considered as the larger reconciliation package.

Watch Congressman Gray's opening remarks in the Agriculture Committee markup here, and his remarks while offering his amendments hereand here.

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