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Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014

Floor Speech

Date: Oct. 4, 2013
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Unemployed and Low-Income Women Minors and Children Entitlements and the Safety Net Government Operations

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Mr. COTTON. I want to thank the gentleman from Alabama for the time.

Madam Speaker, yesterday, I introduced legislation that would ensure the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program remains funded during a government shutdown. Today, I'm very grateful to my colleagues for swift action to fund this important program.

In Arkansas, WIC benefits 42,000 kids, 24,000 infants, and 2,000 moms. Fortunately, the Arkansas Department of Health reached an agreement earlier this week with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the WIC program, though only on a week-to-week basis.

Moms and kids shouldn't suffer because Senate Democrats have shut down the government to protect their special perks and political allies, because that is what has happened here, Madam Speaker.

The House of Representatives, earlier this week, passed a continuing resolution that would fund the government, to include funding, in part, for ObamaCare; and we asked that the Senate Democrats only accept two simple principles: that the White House and Congress follow the same ObamaCare rules as the rest of America and that if Barack Obama is going to give big businesses a 1-year break from ObamaCare, then families and workers should get the same 1-year break.

But Senate Democrats refused to fund the government with those simple terms, the terms that Congress should follow the laws they impose on the American people, and that workers and family should get the same breaks as businesses.

Now, I know there's many important pieces of legislation in front of the Senate today. For instance, they earlier passed a resolution calling next week National Chess Week. Now, that's obviously an urgent matter for this country. But women and kids in need shouldn't be political pawns in the Senate's game.

So I say to the Senate, let's put aside partisanship and pass this legislation for the kids, just as we did earlier this week for the troops.

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