House passes GOP plan to slash food stamp funding The legislation passed Thursday is of a piece with the looming battles as it represents House Republicans" effort to pare the cost and size of government by reducing federal spending. Thursday's vote represented a victory for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who embraced a strategy this summer that split apart the farm bill to consider funding for food stamps, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, separately from legislation authorizing crop subsidies and a revamping of many agricultural and conservation programs. Cantor said the deep cuts enacted Thursday were necessary because while most SNAP recipients need the assistance, there are many people who abuse the system. "Frankly, it's wrong for hardworking, middle-class Americans to pay for that," Cantor said. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), a strong supporter of the bill, said that stiffer work requirements for certain adults applying for SNAP funds mean "you can no longer sit on your couch . . . and expect the federal taxpayer to feed you." The House voted 217 to 210 to approve the measure. Fifteen Republicans joined with all of the Democrats present to vote against the plan. Passage of the bill means that the House can begin negotiations with the Senate over a final version of the farm bill, which would once again merge food aid with other agricultural policy. But Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), in a long speech on the Senate floor Thursday, rejected the GOP approach, saying that Republicans had "turned their backs" on low-income families in hopes of making budget cuts. Citing his own trips to the grocery store with his wife, Landra, Reid said that proposed reductions in SNAP funding would make it difficult for some recipients to purchase ground beef and milk in the same shopping trip. In the House, Democrats used the hours before the vote to criticize Republicans for the funding reductions. They repeatedly cited an op-ed by former Senate majority leaders Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) and Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) published Monday in the Los Angeles Times that said "this is no time to play politics with hunger." According to the Census Bureau, almost 14 percent of households in the United States received food stamps in 2012, a total of 16.6 million households. Almost half the recipients, 48 percent, are non-Hispanic whites; 26 percent are black and 21 percent are Hispanics.