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#FARMBILLFRIDAY: Rep. Mark Walker (NC-6)

Washington, September 14, 2018
In this week's #FarmBillFriday, Rep. Mark Walker (NC-6) highlights the positive impact the House-passed 2018 Farm Bill will have on SNAP recipients by providing access to education and training to help them find employment and move toward self-sufficiency.


"These reforms are supported by 83 percent of Americans. By promoting the dignity of work and using welfare funds to invest in job-training for work-capable adults, we can bring hope and opportunity to families who have not seen it for generations."

Rep. Walker said [in part]:

The farm bill provides the critical certainty our farmers need to keep growing great crops and feeding our families, while making needed investments in broadband for our rural communities. But the farm bill is so much more than that. It represents one of the most positive reforms of our broken welfare system that has trapped millions in a vicious cycle of poverty.

You have probably heard of SNAP, also known as food stamps. SNAP is important food security for our families. However, since 2001 enrollment in SNAP has grown by 155 percent and spending has increased by 299 percent. What is meant to be temporary support has become a poverty trap for millions.

Because of our economic success, more than 2.8 million people have moved off of food stamps since President Trump took office. That is the ultimate measure of our success in delivering opportunity and working to rebuild the American Dream. And we must keep making progress.

That’s why keeping SNAP work requirements for able-bodied adults without young children in the farm bill is so critical. These reforms are supported by 83 percent of Americans.

By promoting the dignity of work and using welfare funds to invest in job-training for work-capable adults, we can bring hope and opportunity to families who have not seen it for generations.