John MuesVerified account

have access, text below: OP-ED: WHY I SUPPORT FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL AMERICANS At the U.S. Naval Academy, as a plebe, our squad leader, a future Navy SEAL, asked our table, “Who here believes in the concept of food stamps?” Of ten plebes, each of us seated on the front two

inches of our seats, our backs ramrod straight and our chins and necks conjoined into what is referred to as a “brace”, only an Irish-Catholic New Yorker and I put out our “paws”, signaling that we did. I was asked how I could defend that position. I replied, “Sir, because

without food stamps as a kid growing up in Montana, I probably wouldn’t be here at Annapolis.” Food assistance programs – from food stamps to free school lunches - enabled my talent to become realized, facilitated, as well, by excellent Montana public school teachers. On 04 Dec

, 2019, with Thanksgiving just past and Christmas approaching, the Trump Administration passed a rule via the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), ostensibly supported by U.S. Senator Daines and U.S. Representative Gianforte, that will deepen cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition

Assistance Program (SNAP) – our food stamp program - worsening hunger and food insecurity in Montana and throughout America. Based on analysis, the cuts – however couched in base-appealing, partisan rhetoric – will impact nearly 50,000 Montanans receiving SNAP and 20% of SNAP

recipients nationally. President Trump, Senator Daines, and Representative Gianforte – all of whom grew up wealthy and privileged – have never known the threat of hunger. And that’s ok – in fact, that’s the way we’d like it to be for everyone. Yet, one needn’t personally

experience food insecurity to grasp the morality - including longstanding Christian morality - and talent unlocking mechanism of government food assistance. Either out of a sense of decency or a belief that society runs best when talent is not suppressed by hunger, countless

Americans – rich and poor alike – support government programs, free of the constant threat of budgetary cuts, that tackle food insecurity. Why then, during the holiday season, would such a rule be proposed that will devastate the lives of so many? It’s important to