House Votes To Restore Food Aid For Legal Immigrants
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, June 5) -- Despite strong opposition from conservative groups, the House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to restore food stamps to many legal immigrants and safeguard crop insurance.
The $1.8 billion bill, which also increases spending on agricultural research, was sent to President Clinton on a 364-50 vote. The Senate passed recently passed the bill on a 92-8 vote.
White House spokesman Barry Toiv said the president would sign the bill. He has asked Congress several times for legislation that would restore food stamps for legal immigrants. Nearly one million legal immigrants lost their food stamps as a result of welfare reform in 1996.
"This bill not only supports farmers but fulfills a commitment the president made when he signed the welfare reform law to restore the unnecessary and mean-spirited benefit cuts for legal immigrants," Toiv said.
Conservative Republicans strongly opposed the bill, believing it would damage the credibility of welfare reform.
"It's funny that we pass welfare reform and then turn around the next year and destroy it," said Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas. "It's time to stand on the laws we pass."
A coalition of urban and farm-state legislators proved unbeatable in passing the bill. The urban lawmakers insisted on more food stamp funding while their rural counterparts were anxious to keep crop insurance available and to reauthorize agricultural research programs.
"There are times when one has to swallow the good with the bad, and this is one of those times," said Rep. Bill Barrett, R-Neb.
Writing letters, signing paper plate petitions
Previous attempts in the Senate and House to strip out the food stamp provisions failed, but the lengthy delay provoked outrage among minority groups and worry among farmers about their crop insurance policies, many of which are expected to expire at the end of June.
Mary Kay Thatcher, lobbyist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, said House GOP leaders were convinced during the weeklong Memorial Day break that stalling was costing political points in some races in the Midwest, California and elsewhere.
The Democratic National Committee had been slamming the GOP for the delay, faxing out press releases comparing it to the 1995 government shutdowns and last year's failure to pass a disaster relief bill swiftly.
"Once again, Republicans want to put right-wing politics over helping people," said Steve Grossman, the DNC's national chairman.
Immigrant groups wrote thousands of letters and encouraged people to sign paper plates asking for food stamp restoration that were sent to members of Congress, particularly Republicans.
However, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Dick Lugar, R-Ind., said a GOP majority strongly supported the bill and deserved credit for pushing it through.
"I've seen any number of explanations suggesting that it might be a black eye. This is a remarkable success for Republicans," Lugar said.
Most of the $1.9 billion in spending would come from administrative savings from the food stamp program but the bill also reduces some subsidies paid to crop insurance companies.
It would provide $818 million over five years to restore food stamps to immigrants who were in this country as of August. 22, 1996, and who are elderly, under 18, disabled or came to the United States to escape political or religious persecution.
The legislation also would guarantee $470 million over five years to pay agents and companies for expenses and commissions to write crop insurance policies and ensures that provision will not have to compete with other spending priorities.
In addition, the bill would spend an additional $600 million over five years for agricultural research -- focused on high-priority areas such as biotechnology and food safety -- and would increase spending on rural development programs by $100 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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