Even though convicted murderers, rapists and pedophiles still have the right to vote in some places, they will no longer be able to qualify for food stamps thanks to a new amendment in the Senate’s farm bill.
The amendment, which was put forth by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) and agreed upon by unanimous consent, enacts a lifetime ban to those convicted of violent and serious crimes from enrolling in the nation’s food stamp program. The amendment would also prevent states from being able to opt-out of the current food stamps ban for convicting drug felons.
“I hope, Mr. President, we can form a bipartisan consensus around this basic idea and put that basic fundamental limitation into law,” Vitter said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
The Senate farm bill is more than just agricultural regulations. In fact, the large majority of the bill revolves around funding for nutritional programs like food stamps. With food stamps costing on average $80 billion annually, preventing felons from having access to the government program will go a long way toward trimming federal spending.
The Senate plans to vote on the Senate farm bill Thursday.
Food stamps weren’t the only thing Vitter railed against on the Senate floor Wednesday, however. The Louisiana Republican also proposed an amendment that would end the government’s free cell phone program.
“I think the whole program is an entitlement mentality gone wild,” Vitter said. “We have started the notion that folks are entitled to the government or taxpayer providing them everything under the sun,” Vitter said, adding that the program is filled with “widespread fraud and abuse.”
Vitter also condemned the rich owners of companies who profit from providing government cell phones as the real abusers of the system or “government welfare kings.”
Watch Vitter’s full floor speech below.
