WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) introduced the bipartisan Senior Nutrition Task Force Act to establish a special working group to combat hunger and malnutrition among senior citizens and adults with disabilities. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (TX-30) co-leads the House bill, and Senators Susan Collins (ME) and Bob Casey (PA) introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
“Food insecurity is persisting amid the post-pandemic recovery and is affecting the most vulnerable in our communities, including our seniors and those who have disabilities,” said Congressman Fitzpatrick. “I am proud to be leading this bipartisan effort to establish a task force dedicated to improving nutrition outcomes and focused on streamlining the process for seniors and disabled Americans to be able to better utilize their nutrition benefits.”
“Finding healthy food in a food desert is hard enough as it is – but it’s even harder for seniors or folks living with disabilities. We are facing a senior hunger crisis in America, and extreme attacks on SNAP benefits for older Americans are only making things worse,” said Congresswoman Crockett. “The Senior Nutrition Task Force Act will give us the tools we need to investigate the causes of this crisis, and craft bipartisan solutions to get healthy food to low-mobility Americans wherever they live. The United States is the richest country in the history of the world, and tonight, somewhere in America, somebody’s grandma is going to bed hungry. There’s no excuse for it, and we need to get to the root causes of this problem now – not later.”
“Millions of older Americans and Americans with disabilities face barriers to accessing nutritious food,” said Senator Casey, Chairman of the U.S Senate Special Committee on Aging. “The bipartisan Senior Nutrition Task Force Act is an important step towards tearing down those barriers and making sure our seniors and adults with disabilities get the food they need to live long, healthy, and independent lives.”
“Far too many seniors in Maine and across the nation find themselves choosing between buying nutritious food or paying essential bills,” said Senator Collins. “Our bipartisan bill would establish a federal interagency task force that will be charged with identifying ways to combat hunger and food insecurity for seniors and adults with disabilities.”
The bill is endorsed by The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the Bipartisan Policy Center, and the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging.
Read the text of the legislation HERE.
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