This view breaks the statement into its steps and names what each one does.
Mr. Speaker, Anecdote · 23 wordsI told you my parents grew up during the Great Depression. They both shared stories of what it was like to go hungry.Anecdote Claims · 127 wordsChildren can’t learn when they are hungry. People can’t work when they are hungry. In 1939, as a pilot program to address record numbers of the hungry, Congress passed the SNAP program.1 On this very day in 1964, that program was made permanent to help alleviate the causes of hunger and keep vulnerable populations fed.2 Before the big ugly law took effect, about half of SNAP recipients were children.3 About 4.2 million Americans have lost their SNAP benefits, about half of them children.4 I visited central Virginia’s largest food relief organization, Feed More, to find out what that meant in Virginia. Over 100,000 Virginians have lost their food benefits because of the big ugly law.5 That is increasing food insecurity and the demand for Feed More’s services. Procedure · 6 wordsThat is not the only thing.Procedure Claims · 149 wordsI did a farm tour, and the farmers told me how extreme weather is affecting the yield of their crops, that the tariffs are raising the costs of all of their inputs, and that the reciprocal tariffs and this trade war are eliminating markets for their services. Over 90 percent of the farms in Virginia, including in my district, are small, family-owned farms or individual-owned farms.6 Many of them get their health insurance through the exchange, and many of them have lost their enhanced premium tax credits. There are a wide variety of reasons why Feed More said basically the demand for their services is skyrocketing and the resources available to feed people are diminishing. I couldn’t help but think about when shortly after Speaker Johnson became Speaker, he said, I believe in a FOX News interview, that if you wanted to know his political views, read the Bible.7 Mr. Speaker, Claims · 398 wordsI have read all of it. And over the past year, there is one verse, really two, but I am going to focus on one that I had been repeating over and over in my mind in the 26-and-a-half hour hearing in Energy and Commerce, in the over 24 hours that we debated that bill on this floor last year, then traveling around Virginia to talk to people about the impact they feared, 8and now, a year later, I am talking to people about the impact they are seeing. That verse is Matthew 25:34-45. Jesus is basically talking about the righteous and the blessed who will take their inheritance in the kingdom prepared since the creation of the world. The King will say to them, the blessed when they arrive: I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me. The righteous will answer him: Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go and visit you. The King will reply: Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me, not the billionaire, not the trillionaire, the least of these. Then he will say to those on his left: Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in. I needed clothes and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. They will answer: When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick and in prison and not help you? He will reply: Truly, I tell you, whatever you do not do for the least of these, you do not do for me. The ask · 38 wordsThe American people are demanding that we be righteous in this moment and that we feed the hungry. We care for the sick. We house the homeless. We welcome the stranger, because ultimately, we must love our neighbor. Mr. Speaker, Claims · 20 wordsI talked to my neighbors across the Fourth District. I talked to my neighbors across Virginia, and they are hurting. Promise · 21 wordsWe need to do something to help them.Vague promise That is what the Congressional Black Caucus will fight for every single day, Positioning · 17 wordsbecause when America catches a cold, Black America gets pneumonia and, frankly, we are sick of it.Positioning Mr. Speaker, Procedure · 8 wordsI yield back the balance of my time.Procedure
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