House GOP Passes Food Aid Cuts

The Huffington Post reports:

WASHINGTON — The Republican-led House rejected bipartisan attempts to reduce farm subsidies Thursday and passed a food and farm spending bill that makes deep cuts in food aid at home and abroad.

The bill, which provides $17.3 billion for the day-to-day operations of the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration, won approval by a 217-203 vote.

It would cut the Women, Infants and Children program, which offers food aid and educational support for low-income mothers and their children, by $868 million, or 13 percent from the current level. An international food assistance program that provides emergency aid and agricultural development would drop by more than $450 million, one-third of the program's budget.

The bill would trim the FDA's $2.5 billion budget by almost 12 percent, straining the agency's ability to implement a new food safety law signed by President Barack Obama this year.

Lawmakers rejected two proposals that would have lowered the maximum amount of money a farmer can receive in subsidies from the government. While fiscal conservatives and other critics of subsidies argued that they need to be cut as lawmakers look for ways to save, farm-state members said those cuts should be pushed back until Congress considers a new five-year farm bill next year.

Democrats said the cuts to food aid were reckless and that subsidies should be trimmed instead.

"The Republican bill is harmful, ineffective and plays politics with our children's health," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif.