PROPOSED REAUTHORIZATION OF THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ACT OF 1977
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY,
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:12 a.m., in room 324, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Jesse Helms (chairman) presiding.
Present: Senators Helms, Leahy, Zorinsky, and Pryor.
The CHAIRMAN. Senator Leahy, we scarcely have a quorum this morning, but we will correct that as the morning gets along.
Senator LEAHY. Mr. Chairman, we farmers find this to be halfway through the day. So it is fine. The others I am sure will be along.
STATEMENT OF HON. JESSE HELMS, A U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH CAROLINA
The CHAIRMAN. Today, we begin the first of at least 2 days of hearings on the food stamp program. Witnesses representing a broad range of perspectives will be testifying on both days. This committee will be dealing with the food stamp program in a number of ways this year:
The committee will be called upon to act on President Reagan's economic package which includes a number of cost-saving proposals directly affecting the food stamp program;
Second, the program itself is up for reauthorization this year as title 12 of the farm bill;
Additionally, the administration will be requesting additional funds for fiscal year 1981 of something in the neighborhood of $1.2 billion to fund the program through the end of this fiscal year in September, bringing the total cost of the program for fiscal year 1981 to $10.9 billion.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that unless this committee and the Congress reforms the food stamp program it will cost $12.5 billion in fiscal year 1982. There are today 22 million Americans-about 1 in every 10-receiving food stamps.
This chart dramatically illustrates the explosive growth in the cost to the taxpayers of this program-more than doubling in cost during the past 3 years alone.