Congresswoman Brown Authors Amendment to Reverse New SNAP Paperwork Requirements in Trump Budget Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11), Vice Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee authored an amendment to the Republican Reconciliation Bill to reverse the legislation’s new red tape paperwork requirements on SNAP benefits for veterans, parents with children over the age of 13, former foster youth, homeless people, seniors, and others. 

According to the Congressional Budget Office, these new requirements, along with the SNAP funding cuts in the bill, will mean that more than 5 million Americans will lose nutrition benefits. 

Under current law veterans, parents with children under 18, former foster youth aged 24 or younger, homeless people, seniors aged 60 and up, and others are exempt from SNAP work requirements. The Republican Reconciliation bill removes these exemptions, ends the exemption for parents when their child turns 14, and ends the age exemption for those between the age of 60 and 65.  

Brown spoke on her amendment in the Rules Committee. (VIDEO)

Her remarks as delivered below: 

Thank you, Madame Chair, for the opportunity to speak on this amendment. 

My amendment would strike one of the cruelest provisions in this bill — a provision that was already bad when the House first passed it, and then Senate Republicans somehow made even worse. 

This part of the Big, Ugly Bill rips food assistance from seniors, families with teenagers, veterans, homeless individuals, and those aging out of our foster care system – just to hand tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans who do not need them.  

I would like to ask my Republican colleagues on this panel the same question I did last time I was here: how… how exactly does taking food away from struggling families, seniors, and veterans make this country safer? Stronger? More secure? Healthier? Or dare I even say great?

And once again, you all can’t answer that question. Because there is no answer. No reason will justify kicking vulnerable people off a program that gives them $6 a day to spend on food -- $6 dollars a day. 

Let’s talk about what this provision in the bill really means. 

It means telling seniors who spent decades working that now they’re on their own.

It means telling veterans who put on the uniform that their service doesn’t matter.

It means telling a teenager aging out of foster care, “Good luck, but figure it out yourself.”

It means punishing homeless Americans who are already fighting to survive.

It means forcing parents with teenage kids to choose between caregiving and feeding their families.

These are not faceless or nameless numbers. They are people – real people. In your districts. And in mine. 

Here are a few stories from Ohio and the people that I represent. 

Anthony visited the Greater Cleveland Food Bank just a few weeks ago. He is homeless, and he is doing everything he can to get back on his own two feet. SNAP isn’t some line item on a budget to him – it is a lifeline. A lifeline that provides just enough to prevent him from going hungry as he searches for stability and work. Under this bill, Anthony would have 90 days, 90 days—or he loses everything. 

Then there’s Mary, in her early 60s, who is battling serious health issues. She’s worked her entire life. She’s not on Medicare yet. Not on full Social Security. She’s caught in a dangerous gap—a gap this bill targets. That’s not reform – that’s punishment.

And then there’s Mallory, who is caring full-time for her 99-year-old grandmother while raising a teenage daughter. Because her daughter is 14 – not 13, not 12 – Mallory would be forced to get a job or lose basic benefits for her entire household. We are literally telling caregivers like Mallory that if you are not punching a clock, then you don’t matter. 

What kind of government does that? What does this say about who we are as Americans?

So when they vote today, I hope my Republican colleagues remember their names. Anthony. Mary. Mallory. 

And let me set the record straight: SNAP is not a job program – never has been and never will be. SNAP is a lifeline. Not just a line item in a budget. SNAP is an anti-hunger program. 

And food should not be some sort of reward for productivity.  It’s a basic human right. 

And no amount of spin, talking points, or tax cuts for the rich will change that.

And with that, Madame Chair, I yield back. 

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