The CEO of hunger advocacy group Feeding Texas is hammering the U.S. House over Thursday's passing of its version of the 2018 Farm Bill.
Feeding Texas CEO Celia Cole said in a statement that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, "deserves to be respected and strengthened, not used as a bargaining chip to pass flawed legislation."
Cole is referring to the reason the Farm Bill failed on its first vote in the House -- hard line conservatives from the Freedom Caucus withheld support of the House bill in order to get leverage on a conservative immigration issue. The Senate version of the bill left SNAP alone when its version of the bill passed out of a Senate subcommittee last week.
“We are extremely disappointed that the House doubled down on a harmful, partisan approach that slams struggling families in rural and urban communities across Texas," Cole said.
She called SNAP a lifeline for Texans from all walks of life.
"This bill will take food off the tables of working families, veterans, elderly and children in Texas," she said. She added that the House version is rife with a "cynical, harmful ideology."
The House passed its version of the 2018 farm bill Thursday by just two votes, 213-211.
A vote on the Senate version is expected by next week.