Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) made a proposal Thursday that will surely ruffle the feathers of those on welfare in this country. The proposed plan would require food stamp recipients to be subject to drug testing.
"This is a compassionate way to try and help these people who have issues, instead of turning the head," Rep. Aderholt said.
The food stamps program, officially known as SNAP or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, provides funding assistance for low-income families which totals to nearly 46 million or 1 in 9 Americans. The average monthly SNAP payment in the U.S. is $125.35 per participant. SNAP costs the U.S. government about $74 billion last year, double what it did in the first year of President Obama's administration.
Tom Vilsack, head of the USDA, questioned Rep. Aderholt's plan. "What other programs that we (USDA) supports or provide assistance to are we going to require drug testing?" Vilsack said. "It's a situation of equity. We're not sure what problem we're trying to solve here."