[US Budget] Food stamps saved from US Senate budget cut plan

By Charles Abbott
WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The federal food stamp program for poor Americans is no longer targeted for cuts under a revised plan to reduce Agriculture Department spending, the head of the Senate Agriculture Committee said on Tuesday after key senators from both parties objected to the proposed cuts.

The panel initially targeted the food stamp program for $574 million, or one-fifth, of the spending cuts projected to total $3 billion over five years.

But the panel's chairman, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, removed the food stamp cuts "in response to the wishes of several of the committee's senators," said a spokesman.

Chambliss, a Georgia Republican, told reporters on Monday that he heard objections "on a bipartisan basis" to cutting food stamps. His package initially included cuts proposed by President (George W.) Bush in February. The White House said it would weed out recipients who were not eligible for food stamps but who were enrolled automatically when they qualified for other welfare programs.

Missouri Republican Jim Talent was the most vocal among committee members who opposed cutting food stamps, one staffer said. The proposed cuts, in the wake of the devastation wrought by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, also drew widespread public
criticism.

At latest count, 25.6 million people were enrolled for food stamps, which help poor people buy food. The average benefit per household was $211.63 per month. Within days of Hurricane Katrina, 500,000 people were receiving disaster food stamps.

"If Congress is aware of the problems facing poor people in America, cuts in hunger assistance programs should not be part of any deficit reduction package," said a spokesman for Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, Democratic leader on the Agriculture
Committee.