Friend,

Earlier this week, the Trump Administration and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) introduced a plan that would dramatically change SNAP benefits. The plan implements a work requirement for those who receive these benefits and limits access to food stamps for low-income families. If implemented, this new plan would strip SNAP benefits from nearly 3.7 million people.

In my district (NJ-02), 12% of households receive SNAP benefits and make no mistake; this requirement will have a significant negative effect on the health and wellbeing of our friends and neighbors.

This policy was part of last year's Farm Bill and was voted down on a bipartisan basis. The administration is now trying to subvert the legislative process and impose it unilaterally.

The administration's argument in favor of this change is that those who receive these benefits, choose to receive them in lieu of working. This argument is based on the idea that those who receive government benefits are lazy and therefore, unworthy of assistance. This is false.

Here are the facts: Study after study shows no evidence that SNAP benefits sustain or encourage joblessness.

I refuse to stand idly by as this administration forces millions of Americans to go hungry.

I have been fighting against this rule since day one, and I will continue that fight.

Will you join me in the fight? Chip in to my re-election campaign to make sure that I can continue the fight to reverse the work requirement and ensure the USDA continues to provide SNAP benefits to those who need them.

SNAP provides invaluable, life-sustaining benefits to a wide variety of individuals, and this rule is aimed at the most vulnerable in our society: the elderly, veterans, disabled individuals, those looking for work, and those not making a living wage. Perhaps most importantly, this policy harms the children of those who receive these benefits. Children, who by no fault of their own, were born into difficult circumstances.

This policy will literally put lives at risk.

These benefits are not a handout. They're a hand-up. If we refuse to support our fellow citizens in their time of need, we have betrayed our most sacred responsibility as members of Congress.

We must do better, and we must continue to fight for those in need.

Join me today in the fight to restore SNAP benefits.

Thank you,
Jeff Van Drew