POLICY FOCUS
Negotiations in Congress Will Have Long-Term Effects
Your Voice is Essential
As we move toward the end of the year, members of Congress have many important decisions before them. Legislators will be dealing with the farm bill, immigration reform,
sequestration and ongoing gridlock over the budget. The
choices our legislators make now will affect people struggling
with hunger for years to come.
anced plan that includes revenues and smart spending cuts
that won’t increase poverty.
Farm Bill and Food Aid
Members of the House and Senate have begun negotiating
a farm bill to renew our nation’s agriculture and nutrition
policies.
Last month, the congressional conference committee on the
Budget and Sequestration
farm bill met for the first time to reconcile the differences beOn Oct. 16, Congress passed a bill that ended a 16-day
government shutdown and raised the debt ceiling to avoid a tween the House and Senate versions of the bill. The Senate verU.S. default. The deal funds the government at current levels sion cuts $4 billion from SNAP over 10 years, while the House’s
through Jan. 15, 2014, and raises the debt ceiling through Feb. nutrition-only version cuts $39 billion. Any cuts to SNAP would
7, 2014. The deal also created a conference committee to ne- make it more difficult for struggling families to put food on the
gotiate a budget for the remainder of the 2014 fiscal year and table. Still, SNAP isn’t the only point of contention.
The farm bill conferees will also negotiate agricultural proaddress the automatic cuts of sequestration. The committee
visions, including food aid reform. The
held hearings on Oct. 30 and Nov. 13. The
Senate passed provisions in its farm bill for
committee has until Dec. 13 to emerge “Bread for the World will
more effective and efficient food aid policy
with a deal.
continue to ask members
that would allow U.S. food aid to reach
These budget talks could play out in of Congress to come to
more hungry people with better, more
a couple of ways. The committee could agreement on these issues
nutritious food. While an amendment to
emerge with a big, multi-trillion dollar, dewhile also protecting
include similar provisions in the House
cade-long budget deal and succeed where
programs that help people
version failed to pass, a bipartisan letter
all previous attempts have failed. However,
suffering from hunger, both
signed by 53 members of the House was
members of Congress have said they don’t
at home and abroad.”
recently sent to farm bill conferees supportexpect a big deal to emerge.
ing Senate-passed provisions in the bill.
Alternatively, the committee could
In the coming months, we will ask our members with senacome up with a smaller deal that resolves the overall funding
level for FY 2014 and replaces some or all of the sequester tors and representatives who sit on the conference committee
for one, or even two, years. If this happens, there are two is- to ask them to ensure that hungry people aren’t harmed in
sues to watch: the overall funding level and the makeup of any any final farm bill.
package that replaces sequestration. The size of the budget Immigration Reform
they agree on will determine the amount of funding available
Bread for the World and its partners are working to ensure
for all anti-hunger discretionary programs. If the committee that House leadership puts a vote on immigration reform on
agrees on a plan to replace sequestration, we will be focused the 2013 calendar. The Evangelical Immigration Table, of
on whether it includes revenues and protects important anti- which Bread is a member, recently released a letter urging
poverty programs.
the House to continue working on immigration and take up
Finally, the committee could emerge with no deal. At that reform that includes a pathway to legalization or citizenship
point, Congress will have until Jan. 15 to prevent another for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in
shutdown and potentially address sequestration.
the United States.
We must continue to urge members of Congress to pass a
Bread for the World will continue to ask members of Conmoral budget that adequately funds programs that combat gress to come to agreement on these issues while also protecthunger and poverty, and replace sequestration with a bal- ing programs that help people suffering from hunger.
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