als can use their energies to be less wasteful and more practical in their assistance.

In conclusion, allow me to restate the need for a new approach to the Mexican community which so greatly influences the Southwest. We continue to reject Federal intervention in our lives and in our household. We are a hard working and dedicated people. As landowners, regardless of income levels, we voted 5 to 1 in favor of proposition 13 in the State of California. That would double the non-Hispanic vote-and social welfare programs constituted the biggest argument against proposition 13. It is our small business economy that continues to sustain the Mexican-American worker— and food stamps are a departure from this economy's ripe heritage. We are willing to share the strength of our cultural blessing-the tradition of a strong family unit. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your attention and for your continuing interest in the progress of the Mexican-American mother, her family and her country-the USA, gracias.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, the other way around, I thank you.

I asked if the staff had consulted with you at anytime, and I was told no.

I want to ask a favor of you.

MS. HEMMING. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You obviously are a lady that is creative, you understand the importance of family, and that means that you understand principle, which I think is what this country is about, and they are slipping away from us.

Ms. HEMMING. Absolutely.

The CHAIRMAN. And I wonder if you would be willing to—with my staff-to consult with us some time?

MS. HEMMING. I would love to.

The CHAIRMAN. Because you have got the right idea, there is no question about it.

MS. HEMMING. We did surveys. I mean, what I have written in here is a message that has come across from conference after conference that I have had to attend.

I chaired the International Womens Hispanic Task Force for the Federal Government, and I have had to do surveys for the Hispanic program, and all we are doing is alienating the Hispanic community with the welfare principles we now have.

The CHAIRMAN. You know, I often wondered if that is not the

case.

MS. HEMMING. It is awful what is happening. It is just terrible. The CHAIRMAN. It is sort of the question you are afraid to raise, because there is so much propaganda to the contrary.

MS. HEMMING. I know.

The CHAIRMAN. You do not know how delighted I am to hear what you had to say.

Ms. HEMMING. Thank you so much. Thank you for the compli

ment.

That is very encouraging.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

MS. HEMMING. Thank you.

The CHAIRMAN. We will now hear from Kenneth Peterson, legislative representative, AFL-CIO.

STATEMENT OF KENNETH PETERSON, LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE, DEPARTMENT OF LEGISLATION, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS

Mr. PETERSON. And now, Mr. Chairman, even though I am from the AFL-CIO, you ought to welcome me with a spirit of relief. I am the very last. I have been here since this morning. The CHAIRMAN. I appreciate your patience.

Mr. PETERSON. I appreciate your patience and your courtesy. You know, you are not going to like what you are going to hear, but you are courteous to me anyway.

In appreciation for your courtesy, I will spare you some of the statement and summarize it.1

I think you know essentially what we feel, we appreciate the opportunity to testify before this committee on the administration's proposed cuts in the food stamp program. The AFL-CIO considers the food stamp program the Nation's principal defense against hunger for those who are forced out of jobs, working for inadequate wages, or through necessity, required to live within the constraints of a welfare budget.

The administration's misguided efforts to cut benefits to those who are receiving food stamps should be directed instead to reducing the number of poor who need them.

The retrospective accounting provision would penalize strikers and their families who otherwise qualify on the same basis as other needy Americans. Even though strikers make up a mere two-tenths of 1 percent of food stamp recipients, they are repeatedly singled out for attack. We believe that anyone fulfilling the stringent income and asset eligibility requirements of the food stamp program should be entitled to receive its benefits no matter what the cause of his economic condition. To arbitrarily refuse these benefits to workers on strike whose tax dollars support these and other Federal programs is a gross injustice.

We also have a statement on women, infants, and children programs, and I was impressed by your statement of your interest in making this a responsible program.

We share that interest. We have no support whatsoever for fraud, but surely you are not going to get fraud if you are going to reduce the income the families get, to children in school getting a school lunch, and ignoring the inflation factor and taking away the aid for fuel for people who live in the North particularly.

If you went after the fraud, as we heard the man from Florida say, that is fine, that is great, and if this would reduce the program and make it more manageable, fine, we will support every effort of that sort.

The CHAIRMAN. I know that.

Let me say further that obviously I did not always agree with Mr. Meany, but he was one of my most admired Americans, because when it came to this country, in the defense of it, he was always there, and if I did not like him for anything else, I would always be grateful to him for his relationship and his assistance to Alexandr Solzhenitsyn.

Mr. PETERSON. Yes, sir, we are proud of that, and we are proud of his record and our contribution to America, as you said, on every issue, we have always been there, including the time of the reduction in the Army, with such difficulty, we came there in support, and, well, as you say, we do not always agree, we have always agreed on that. There has been no difficulty.

The CHAIRMAN. Fine.

Mr. PETERSON. I wish you could see it more, because we are the basic Americans, and we are the ones that are paying, and before this most unfortunate thing happening to the President, he lauded our people for their contribution to America, and the work ethic that they have, the fact that they are paying the most taxes, and so this is what we believe, what we believed that the poor should be helped, and the program is in the administration's proposals, they are not going to hit the fraud, they are not going to get the people who are cheating, but they are going to deprive the worthy of what they need.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, sir.

Mr. PETERSON. I thank you, sir. The best to you.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, I was looking forward to this since 9 o'clock this morning.

We stand adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 5:55 p.m., the committee recessed, to reconvene at 9:30 a.m., Monday, April 6, 1981, in room 324, Russell Senate Office Building.]

PROPOSED REAUTHORIZATION OF THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ACT OF 1977

(Food Stamps)

MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1981

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY,

Washington, D.C.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., in room 324, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Jesse Helms (chairman) presiding.

Present: Senators Helms, Hayakawa, Jepsen, and Huddleston. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order.

Well, Mr. Secretary, as I look down the table, I see that we are still short of a quorum, nine being a quorum, but we will start anyway, this being Monday morning, and I know Senators have other commitments.

We welcome the distinguished Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Hon. Richard Lyng, and I believe you told me you did not have quite as much difficulty coming to work this morning as some of the rest of us. Traffic was very heavy. People are looking at the cherry blossoms.

We welcome you, sir, and you may proceed with your statement. STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD LYNG, DEPUTY SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Mr. LYNG. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a fairly lengthy statement which I would like to submit for the record, and if it is agreeable with you, I would just like to summarize it.

The CHAIRMAN. That will be very good, and you summarize as you please, but your entire statement will be printed in the record.1

Mr. LYNG. As you know, Mr. Chairman, the actions we are talking about today address most immediately the first part of the President's economic plan, that of decreasing the growth of Federal spending, and I think it is very important that the entire President's program be enacted which we believe will lead to an improved economy and economic recovery will directly equate to reduced need for food stamp program benefits.

Food stamp allotments are based on the level of food prices in the retail markets and the rate of unemployment affects the number of program participants.

Mr. Chairman, the average American will be greatly benefited by the President's economic program, as was pointed out in the

'See p. 470 for the prepared statement of Deputy Secretary Lyng.