Sewell calls on President Trump to fully fund SNAP

November 4, 205 – BIRMINGHAM – Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-07) called on President Donald J. Trump (R) to fully fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits while the government shutdown continues. President Donald J, Trump (Rhas announced that beneficiaries will receive partial benefits this month.

Sewell was at the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama in Birmingham on Tuesday to help fill food boxes for the underprivileged. The Community Food Bank serves 6,000 families and averages 40 to 50 food deliveries a week. Since the government shutdown that number has doubled.

Sewell and members of her staff joined employees and volunteers on an assembly line filling food boxes.at the food bank. Afterwards Sewell convened a roundtable with the food bank leadership and their nonprofit parnters.

"It is day 35 of the government shutdown," said Congresswoman Sewell. "Noone wins in a government shutdown."

Sewell says that her SNAP roundtable tour is designed to provide constituents with information on how to access food in wake of the government shutdown – where many federal employees are working without pay and SNAP benefits may be reduced.

"Yesterday I was in Tuscaloosa where I convened a similar roundtable." Said Sewell. "What I learned in Tuscaloosa that while donating food is great they can also donate money."

Even though the government is in partial shutdown, President Trump has proceeded with converting the East Wing of the White House into a ballroom with corporate sponsorships.

"The corporate sponsors of that ballroom should be donating to feed America," Sewell quipped.

Ginger Pegues is the development director with the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama.

"We can provide four meals for every dollar," donated said Pegues. "We need food shelf stable food like peanut butter. If you need food - No questions asked we will take care of you."

House Republicans passed a continuing resolution to keep the government funded, which Senate Democrats rejected using the filibuster rule.

Sewell said that the CR made $150 million in cuts for the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and other agencies. "It was not a clean CR."

"This president will not come to the table and talk to Democrats," Sewell continued. "We are now in week number seven," of the shutdown. "42 million Americans depend on SNAP and most of them are children."

Most people who receive SNAP benefits receive them in the form of EBT cards they can use at Wal-Mart and grocery stores to buy groceries. Sewell said that many Americans overestimate how much benefits that SNAP beneficiaries receive from the program.

"The average SNAP benefit the receive is between $6 and $10 dollars a day," said Sewell. "Most of them are the working poor. This is going to affect all of us."

"This is the first government shutdown where SNAP benefits have been cut down during the shutdown," said Sewell.

President Trump has said that there is enough money for partial SNAP funds. Sewell disagreed with that and said that two judges have ruled that they President has to release the funds for full SNAP benefits.

"Congress has appropriated $6 billion in contingency funds for food security - It probably takes more like $9 billion," said Sewell. "USDA also has $23 billion that it can transfer to SNAP."

"We should not be weaponizing hunger," Sewell continued. "It is not a Democrat or a Republican issue this is right or wrong issue."

The Community Food Bank of Central Alabama makes 40 or 50 food deliveries to food banks, churches, and other groups involved in charitable outreach of food in 14 counties in central Alabama. Demand has increased since the shutdown began particularly among furloughed federal workers and essential federal workers still on jobs who have not been paid for their work due to the government shutdown.

"For the last 44 years we have been feeding our neighbors in 12 counties in central Alabama," said Pegues. "We are better together We can't do it without our partners. Now with the increased need we want to assure that we are meeting the need

"We have an amazing networks of nonprofits and churches that are standing in the gap," said Sewell. "I am very thankful for that."

Pegues said that the Community Food Bank needs support from the public to fulfill its mission.

"We need funds to purchase food," explained Pegues. "We need shelf stable food like peanut butter. We need volunteers."

Rev. Jerry Cunningham is the Assistant Pastor at New Pilgrim Baptist Church in Titusville where he is also the director of the food bank. They are one of Community Foodbank's partners.

"Our clientele is growing rapidly," said Rev. Cunningham. "When there is a need we come together. We stick together and try to help. Thank God for the Community Foodbank."

Cunningham said that they have received requests for help from the "Federal employees who are working without pay," due to the shutdown.

Kathy Dailey is with the United Methodist Church's Food Hub in Homewood.

"Today we are expecting over 800 people to get food through our drive thru service," said Dailey. "The quantity they get depends on the size of their family. We have a food pantry in every Homewood School. They come in and get food discretely. We also have the backpacks, mostly for the younger kids."

"We have 200 volunteers who work by appointment or drive through," said Dailey. "We distribute not only to Homewood we distribute throughout the Birmingham area."

"We have partnerships with different grocery stores and they donate thousands of pounds of food," said McGee. "Our mission is very simple. It is to feed our neighbors every day."

More than 700,000 Alabamians rely on SNAP benefits.

"I think it is important that the community understand what is available to them," said Sewell.

"In this amazing country no one should go without food," said Sewell. "Hunger knows no politics. It affects both Republicans and Democrats. The faces of SNAP are our children, our veterans, our seniors, our disabled,"

Sewell spoke to the Birmingham City Council about the situation earlier in the day,

This is not the first government shutdown, but it has become the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The House passed a routine continuing resolution to keep the government funded at the end of September, but Senate Democrats balked at funding the government unless Republicans added $1.5 trillion in new health care spending to the budget. Republicans refused to add the healthcare spending to the debt so Senate Democrats refused to lift a filibuster on the continuing resolution.

President Trump has called on Senate Republicans to end the filibuster so the Republicans can pass the CR and then a budget without having to deal with Democratic Senators thwarting the GOP agenda.

"The filibuster is a Senate procedure that has gone down from Congress to Congress," said Sewell. "It is meant to give a voice to the minority. Democrats may be the minority today but Republicans may be in the future. We need to get to a place where we can get to bipartisan agreement."

Congresswoman Sewell is in her eighth term representing Alabama's Seventh Congressional District.

To learn more about the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama.

https://feedingal.org/

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