Opening Statements

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.

And thank you to each of our witnesses for your participation today.

I must first again reiterate how important it is for this Committee—and frankly most of the Committees in Congress—to bring forward the Administration for conversations like these.

Whether it be the Agriculture Committee or not, this Administration is AWOL. We are failing at our obligation as policymakers and as stewards of taxpayer dollars when we neglect our oversight responsibilities.

I sincerely hope 2022 is different.

On to the topic at hand.

The Department’s nutrition distribution programs, namely TEFAP, CSFP, and FDPIR, have long been complementary to SNAP and have aided families in need across the country.

But we may be at a crossroads. The pandemic has shown us that there are so many different ways to do things and that massive spending does not necessarily lead to desired outcomes.

I look forward to hearing what worked, what did not work, and where we can potentially step in and make changes that make sense to both operators and recipients. I think CSFP is a great example – I recall Mr. Kubik’s 2017 testimony regarding CSFP and from that, necessary improvements were made to the program in the 2018 Farm Bill.

Simply put, I am not sure autopilot is the right way to continue.

With that, I look forward to today’s conversation, and again thank the witnesses for taking the time to share their expertise.

I yield back.