Sr. Simone Campbell and NETWORK Respond to House Agriculture Committee Farm Bill Markup

For Immediate Release: April 18, 2018
Contact: Ashley Wilson, awilson@networklobby.org, 202-601-7856
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response the House Agriculture Committee markup of the 2018 Farm Bill held today, NETWORK reiterates its opposition to the drastic proposals in this bill that risk leaving the low-income and vulnerable in our nation hungry. As people of faith, we know that adequate nutrition is a basic human right without which individuals and families are not able to thrive.

Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, said:

 “The Republican House Farm Bill is aptly named H.R.2.  When paired with H.R.1 (the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act), the priorities of the House GOP couldn’t be clearer. This attempt to take food off families’ tables comes directly on the heels of passing $1.9 trillion of tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-rich. This partisan bill is outrageous, stigmatizes people living in poverty, and flies in the face of Gospel values.  It must be stopped before further harm is done to our nation and its people.”

Sister Quincy Howard, OP, NETWORK Government Relations Fellow, reacted:

“The House Agriculture Committee markup today was a sad nail in the coffin of a historically a bipartisan process to craft farm bills that served the common good. The Republican members voted this unworkable bill out of committee after five hours of faux debate, putting an end to the committee’s legacy of bipartisanship that demonstrated for years how Congress should work. Members described the distorted process as “severing friendships” in the committee and abandoning efforts to work together by “poisoning the well” with partisan ideology. The majority members chose to endanger the entire endeavor of producing a workable Farm Bill and demonstrated a recklessness that threatens the needs of those they were elected to serve.“

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NETWORK – advocates for justice inspired by Catholic sisters – educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation. They have a 45-year track record of lobbying for critical federal programs that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good. www.networklobby.org