Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., criticized his Republican colleagues Monday on Newsmax for voting to continue allowing people to use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for junk food.
A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, including 55 House Republicans, joined Democrats last week to block an effort to prohibit SNAP recipients from using food benefits to purchase sugary sodas in a 238-186 vote.
"It was a disappointment, obviously. We all know that the food stamps are being abused," Grothman said on "Rob Schmitt Tonight."
"We all hear the stories, people using food stamps for top-of-the-line foodstuffs — things that the average person wouldn't be able to buy. But the people on food stamps seem capable of buying it," he said.
"So an effort was made — a mild effort — just to say you can't buy cigarettes, soft drinks, not Mountain Dew and that sort of thing," Grothman continued.
"And we had 55 Republicans vote to say no. We actually thought we were going to win, because we had over 20 Democrats vote for the amendment on their own."
Grothman said he expected all Democrats to vote against the legislation.
"A clear majority of people in Congress want to make sure you can have everything, including things like Mountain Dew, which is bad for you," he said.
Grothman said it would be better for farmers if people had to buy real food rather than junk food.
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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