{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/at-federal-hill-houses-swiss-street-food-pantry-reed-touts-plan-to-reverse-trumps-snap-cuts-and-restore-nutrition-assistance", "At Federal Hill House\u2019s Swiss Street Food Pantry, Reed Touts Plan to Reverse Trump\u2019s SNAP Cuts & Restore Nutrition Assistance", "2025-11-21", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", "jackreed", "https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases", "scraper", "PROVIDENCE, RI \u2013 As families prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, U.S. Senator Jack Reed is concerned a growing number of Americans may not have enough to eat. The problem is compounded by President Trump slashing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), America\u2019s most effective anti-hunger program, by roughly 20 percent and adding new red tape to the program that could cause many people who qualify for nutrition assistance to go without.\n\nToday, Reed visited one of Rhode Island\u2019s largest and busiest food pantries \u2013 Federal Hill House\u2019s (FHH) Swiss Street Food Pantry \u2013 to highlight the urgent need to deliver nutrition assistance and rally support for new legislation to overturn Trump-Republican cuts to SNAP, the biggest cut to the food aid program in American history.\n\nSNAP is a lifeline for over 42 million Americans, including 16 million children, 8 million seniors, 4 million people with disabilities, and 1.2 million veterans \u2013 including 144,000 Rhode Islanders.\n\nAs President Trump\u2019s economic policies contribute to rising prices, more Rhode Islanders are being squeezed when it comes to essentials such as food, health care, heating, housing, and transportation. That has led to increased demand at food pantries across the state and the nation.\n\nThe Congressional Budget Office estimates President Trump\u2019s budget and tax law will eliminate $187 billion in food assistance over the next decade, even as grocery prices rise. Trump\u2019s cuts will cause as many as 88,000 Rhode Islanders to lose some or all of their SNAP benefits, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute. In total, Rhode Island would lose $85.8 million in SNAP funds every year under the new Trump budget law.\n\nThe state currently receives roughly $343.5 million annually in SNAP benefits. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, SNAP participants in Rhode Island received an average of $198.52 per month in SNAP benefits which nets out as about $6.52 per person per day.\n\n\u201cWe are so grateful to food pantries like Federal Hill House. And it\u2019s important to note that community food banks across the country are experiencing the same high prices, federal cuts, and surge of demand that was exacerbated by President Trump needlessly withholding SNAP funds. Our foodbanks and volunteers are doing heroic work, but they can only do so much, and President Trump\u2019s SNAP cuts are dragging the country in the wrong direction. The federal government needs to do more, not less. The Trump Administration is forcing higher costs and a heavier economic burden onto states and vulnerable families, and that is a recipe for increasing poverty,\u201d said Senator Reed. \u201cAs more Americans feel the pinch, Congress must act swiftly to restore and strengthen SNAP before Trump-Republicans\u2019 devastating cuts kick in. We must also deliver relief to hard-working families bearing the undue burden of President Trump\u2019s cost-raising tariff taxes and repeated failures to address the skyrocketing costs of health care.\u201d\n\nThis week, Senator Reed teamed up with Senator Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM) and others to introduce the Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act of 2025 (S.3281). The bill would reinstate SNAP funding and access, reversing the changes that slashed $187 billion in food benefits from Americans in need.\n\n\u201cFHH\u2019s Swiss Street Food Pantry works daily to feed our neighbors in need, but we are only part of the solution to hunger in our community. We appreciate Senator Reed\u2019s leadership on legislation that restores essential support for individuals and families whose income doesn\u2019t provide enough to put nutritious food on the table. We also applaud his efforts to strengthen local food systems by increasing access to fresh, locally sourced foods from farmers and producers\u201d said Kimberly Fernandez, executive director of Federal Hill House.\n\nFederal Hill House operates one of Rhode Island\u2019s largest and most visited food pantries, serving approximately 3,900 families across nearly 21,000 visits so far this year \u2013 an 14 percent increase over the same period last year. The organization distributed 2 million pounds of food to Rhode Islanders in 2024.\n\nSenator Reed is also the author of bipartisan legislation that would increase access to locally-sourced, fresh, healthy, and nutritious food in underserved communities and schools. The Strengthening Local Food Security Act (S.2338) would create a permeant grant program for state and tribal governments to procure local foods from family farmers, fishermen, and food producers.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "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.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/at-federal-hill-houses-swiss-street-food-pantry-reed-touts-plan-to-reverse-trumps-snap-cuts-and-restore-nutrition-assistance"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6141077503561974, "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"}