By Jerry Hagstrom
DTN Political Correspondent
and
Chris Clayton
DTN Ag Policy Editor
OMAHA (DTN) — Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told the congressional Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday that the Agriculture Department will do what it can to make sure people get food during the coronavirus crisis, but some changes would require congressional action.
Perdue urged the House subcommittee to consider reauthorization of the Pandemic Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or P-SNAP — which was last implemented for one year during the H1N1 virus in 2009, but has since expired.
Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., chairman of the subcommittee, said he would consider that. But he also told Perdue that he should follow his own motto of ?do right and feed everyone.?
Perdue said, ?This is a time we need to pull together? and put partisanship aside.
Bishop urged Perdue to stop implementation of a rule that will make it harder for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD) to get Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
