Fiftytwo percent of the cities participating in the U.S. Conference of Mayors 1995 survey reported emergency food assistance facilities were unable to provide necessary resources. and that is before the welfare reform bill. This amendment. which I have been joined in offering by Senator WELLSTONE and Senator BOXER. restores food stamp benefits to legal immigrant families with children 18 years and under. According to the CBO. it would cost the Treasury $750 million over 5 years. We have established an offset in this bill from the administrative moneys being given to the Governors so that they can administer the new welfare reform bill. food stamps and other programs. Our amendment tries to ensure that Federal dollars are being used efficiently to make sure that direct benefits are given to needy children. I am going to stop at this point. as I know some of my colleagues are waiting to offer an amendment and others have been here a long time. I hope tomorrow when this amendment comes to the floor that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join in a bipartisan spirit to help the children of legal immigrants. These children are likely to become naturalized citizens in America. We want them to be healthy. productive citizens. good students making this a better nation in which to live. If we are pennywise and pound foolish and cut these children short when it comes to one of the basic necessities of life. food itself. we may end up paying the price for decades and generations to come.
Keywords matched
immigrant naturalized immigrants