Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke has asked the Secretary of Agriculture to delay reductions in nutrition assistance that will deny food to millions of families and children.

Congresswoman Clarke has opposed these reductions, which will reduce benefits for 850,000 Americans, of whom 300,000 are residents of New York State, primarily children, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities. The letter, sent to Secretary Vilsack by seventy-two members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, asks for a delay to allow the states to minimize – to the extent possible – the harm to families and children.

“Every day, millions of children come to school without a proper breakfast. At the end of each month, millions of families skip meals because there isn’t enough money to buy groceries. In the richest nation in the world, we have a responsibility to the families that receive nutrition assistance, which includes almost a million veterans of our armed forces, to protect their access to food,” said Congresswoman Clarke. “It is my hope that a delay in the implementation of these reductions will at least allow the state time to develop alternatives that allow people to eat.”

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.