WASHINGTON – In response to the bill passed by House Republicans yesterday that cuts $39 billion over ten years from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), People For the American Way’s African American Ministers in Action (AAMIA) released the following statement:

The GOP’s vote to slash our nation’s food stamp program can only be described one way: heartless. 

More than one in seven Americans rely on food stamps.  Many of those receiving assistance through the program are our country’s most vulnerable members: children, seniors, people with disabilities, and families struggling to make ends meet.  Playing politics with the lives of low-income men, women, and children is disgraceful.  Especially at a time when so many families are struggling to recover from the recession, threatening basic access to food is the worst kind of partisan politics. 

The members of AAMIA are extremely disappointed in and strongly condemn this callous vote.

People For the American Way's African American Ministers in Action represents an ecumenical alliance of 1,500 African-American clergy working toward equality, justice and opportunity for all.

###