Congresswoman McCollum's Statement on H.R. 2112, Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act
Mr. Speaker, I rise to strongly object to the Republican majority's mean-spirited $650 million cut to vulnerable women, infants and children. The Republican's Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations legislation, H.R. 2112, chooses to make this drastic reduction to the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program at a time of economic crisis for millions of American families. WIC is a proven strategy to guarantee that lower-income expectant and breastfeeding mothers and their children up to five years of age receive nutritious food. In Minnesota alone, 137,000 children rely on WIC benefits to keep them healthy and help them grow strong.
The federal budget is in crisis and Congress must take serious and immediate steps to tackle rising federal deficits. Members of Congress have a choice about how to reduce the deficit and a choice about who in our society will be asked to make the sacrifices. In Fiscal Year 2012, the Republicans are proposing uneven sacrifices. The Republican majority is choosing to cut $650 million from the women, infants and children in our communities who most need assistance while choosing to protect nearly $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies for Exxon and other large oil companies at a time of record-high gas prices. Up to 350,000 eligible women and children across the country will be denied access to basic nutrition under H.R. 2112.
I urge my colleagues to reject the cuts to WIC in H.R. 2112.