{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-hosts-virtual-town-hall-with-nj-food-banks-amid-trumps-withholding-of-snap-funding", "Booker Hosts Virtual Town Hall with NJ Food Banks Amid Trump\u2019s Withholding of SNAP Funding", "2025-10-23", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "NJ", "Cory A. Booker", "B001288", "www.booker.senate.gov", "booker", "https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press", "scraper", "NEWARK, N.J. \u2013 This afternoon, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) hosted a virtual town hall with New Jersey\u2019s five largest food banks to discuss the fallout for working families in New Jersey if President Trump chooses to stop SNAP payments and Republicans do not come to the table to end the government shutdown.\n\nThe virtual meeting follows Senator Booker\u2019s letter yesterday to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins demanding the agency release the billions of dollars at its disposal to ensure that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits continue through November.\n\n\u201cNearly one million New Jerseyans rely on SNAP and WIC benefits every single day,\u201d said Senator Booker. \u201cAcross the country, 42 million Americans rely on these benefits, but President Trump and Congressional Republicans\u2013\u2013including three in our own state\u2013\u2013don\u2019t care that their political stunts will leave people straining to afford food. I heard directly from New Jersey\u2019s food bank leaders who are seeing a surge of people desperate for help getting food. These leaders made it clear to me that their food banks would be completely overwhelmed and unable to meet the need if SNAP is interrupted. Trump\u2019s refusal to fund these essential benefits\u2013\u2013despite having access to billions in funding he could use immediately\u2013\u2013is a deliberate choice to harm our neighbors. I\u2019m deeply appreciative to organizations like Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Food Bank of South Jersey, Fulfill, Norwescap, and Mercer Street Friends for joining me today and for their relentless work on behalf of all New Jerseyans. Trump must immediately commit to releasing the funds at his disposal to continue SNAP, and Republicans must negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government and lower health care costs.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you to Senator Booker and our fellow New Jersey food banks for convening this important discussion,\u201d said Fred Wasiak, President & CEO of the Food Bank of South Jersey. \"Right now, the Food Bank is serving more than 200,000 people each month \u2013 more than twice the pandemic \u2013 and the need will only continue to grow. SNAP is the cornerstone of our nation\u2019s fight against hunger and, without it, the burden on families and food banks would be overwhelming.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn New Jersey, we've already seen food insecurity increase by 65% since the height of the pandemic in 2020. That's nearly 1.1 million children, seniors, families, and veterans who don't know where their next meal is coming from,\u201d said Elizabeth McCarthy, President & CEO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. \"If our neighbors lose access to SNAP in November, that need could worsen even more dramatically. One thing we should all agree on, even in these polarizing times, is that no one should go hungry. Food is not a privilege \u2014 it\u2019s a basic human need.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe cessation of SNAP benefits goes well beyond the devastating impact it will have on food security in the communities we serve, it will have ripple effects on organizations like Norwescap that could literally cause systemic failure in the nonprofit sector because people who can\u2019t afford to feed themselves or their families are going to turn to nonprofit organizations for help with housing, childcare, utilities, transportation, healthcare, etc., all of which are already operating under unsustainable levels. SNAP is more than food, it is a foundational element of the American safety net, so a break in SNAP benefits will lead to a deluge of seemingly unrelated problems for our communities,\u201d said Mark Valli, CEO of Norwescap.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-hosts-virtual-town-hall-with-nj-food-banks-amid-trumps-withholding-of-snap-funding"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8644131012260914, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}