Brown pushes for food bank funding

[Algorem]

Source: Coshocton Tribune

Brown pushes for food bank funding

YOUNGSTOWN (AP) — ...

Brown says they're running out of food in Ohio and across the U.S. in what the Democrat calls an emergency and an outrage.

While visiting a food bank in Youngstown on Thursday, the senator said working families "teetering on the edge" are putting increased demand on food banks, which supply local food pantries.

The legislation Brown introduced last month would provide $40 million in stopgap funding until a permanent fix is provided in a farm bill.

Ohio Democratic Congressman Zack Space has introduced an emergency food bank bill in the House.


Read more: http://www.coshoctontribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080111/UPDATES01/80111009

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Food banks running short

http://www.tribune-chronicle.com/News/articles.asp?articleID=26895

By STEPHEN ORAVECZ Tribune Chronicle

YOUNGSTOWN — ...

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who visited Second Harvest Thursday, said food banks across Ohio and the country are in similar straits. To address the shortages, he has introduced a bill to provide $40 million in emergency funding that he hopes will move quickly once the Senate reconvenes this month...

‘‘Standing in line at food banks, working families are teetering on the edge. Families are facing an impossible choice this winter — heat or eat,’’ Brown said.

The farm bill would increase emergency funding for food banks from $140 million to $250 million, but it is tied up in a conference committee and faces a veto threat from President Bush. Brown’s emergency aid bill would help food banks get through until the farm bill is approved...


‘‘Yesterday, I met families who sat for hours in the cold just to receive a meager allowance of food. This is not the Great Depression, and there is no excuse for children to go to bed hungry,î Space said in a news release...





Brown frustrated by war in Iraq

http://www4.vindy.com/content/local_regional/336478812802407.php

The chances of getting U.S. troops out of Iraq soon aren't high, the senator says.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — ...

Brown, a Democrat from Avon, said his party's strategy was to "pick off Republicans" who disagree with President Bush's Iraq war policy until there were enough to override a presidential veto. But that strategy isn't working, Brown acknowledged...

The Bush administration and its supporters tell the public the United States can't pull out of Iraq when there are problems because the country can't govern itself, Brown said. When there is some stability in Iraq, the administration and its supporters say the policy is working and the United States has to stay there, he added.

"Look at the ludicrousness of the argument," he said...


Brown had high praise for ex-U.S. Sen. John Edwards, who is lagging behind U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton in polls...

[MADem]

1. "Stopgap funding" is a good measure. Permanent government funding is an invitation to fraud.

A fix within the farm bill is good, too. Rice and Welfare Cheese has kept more than a few American families from hunger's door.