Congressman Stutzman Speaks At Chamber Legislative Update In Warsaw
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Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Third District U.S. Congressman Marlin Stutzman spoke during a legislative update in Warsaw Tuesday. Stutzman spoke about the farm bill that he voted against on June 20. He was among 62 Republicans, and the only one from Indiana, who joined 172 Democrats to defeat the farm bill. The house voted 234 to 195 against the $950 billion dollar bill which sets funding for farm subsidies and other assets as well as food stamps. The measure would cut $2 billion annually from the food stamp program and allowed states to impose broad new work requirements to qualify for the program. Stutzman wanted the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program removed from the farm bill. He said that food stamps make up 80 percent of farm bill spending. The House bill would have spent $940 billion over 10 years on agriculture and nutrition programs. Stutzman said during Tuesday’s legislative forum that he voted against the farm bill because of its trillion dollar price tag. “I think we need to separate the farm bill and the food stamp program because if we are going to have such a large food stamp program we need to make sure the food is getting to the people who need help,” Stutzman said. “I have a hard time justifying it being called a farm bill when only 20 percent of spending goes to agriculture and 80 percent to food stamps.” Stutzman also discussed the medical device tax and said the Senate will need to review it under an appropriations or tax bill. “I’m hopeful if we get a tax bill before the end of the year that the medical device tax repeal will be in the bill,” Stutzman said. He said he feels there is momentum in the House and Senate to repeal the medical device tax. Stutzman spoke also well about immigration, saying the U.S. does not have control of the border and has 10 to 12 million people in the country illegally. “We have to know who is coming across and going across the border,” Stutzman said. But he said he doesn’t believe the people who are in the U.S. illegally should be forced to go home. “This is the fault of the federal government’s immigration system that is broken,” Stutzman said. Stutzman was asked during the forum about term limits. He said he has no problem with term limits, but said if they are too short the bureaucrats, lobbyists, and staff will have all the institutional knowledge. The event was sponsored by Warsaw-Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce and AT&T and was at Champagne Jam in Warsaw. It was attended by 100 chamber members, state and local government leaders, and business leaders.
