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For Immediate Release
Contact:

Drew Courtney or Miranda Blue
202-467-4999 / media@pfaw.org

 

PFAW: House Republicans Propose Taking Food Away from Families to Help Crush Strikes

WASHINGTON

A group of House Republicans has introduced a bill (H.R. 1135) that, among other reductions to essential welfare programs, denies food stamps to families who have a member on strike. The food stamp provision was first reported by Think Progress.

The bill's sponsors are part of an increasingly powerful--and well-funded--national anti-labor movement. All of the bill's sponsorsreceived hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate interests in the last election. Three (Jim Jordan, Scott Garrett, and Tim Scott) have received significant support in their political careers from the Club for Growth, which has been active in fighting workers' rights in Wisconsin and throughout the nation.

Michael Keegan, President of People For the American Way, issued the following statement:

"While working Americans across the country are standing up for their right to organize, Republican officials in Washington have been doing the dirty work of corporations--demonizing workers, denying them their right to organize, and now even going after their food. These legislators want to use food as a weapon to help their corporate allies strangle union efforts to protect workers. This is a shameless attempt to hold children and families hostage to the whims of powerful corporate interests."

People For the American Way works to build a democratic society that implements the ideals of freedom, equality, opportunity and justice for all. We encourage civic participation, defend fundamental rights, and fight to dismantle systemic barriers to equitable opportunity. We fight against right-wing extremism and the injustice it fosters.

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