Seventh District Congressman Billy Long voted to cut food stamps for the poor out of the Farm Bill, but he has no problem with having his meals paid for by campaign contributors.
Long's quarterly disclosure report, filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) shows that his campaign contributors paid for 31 meals totaling $9,407.29 during the last three months.
Included in that total was a $245.24 meal at the Venitian Hotel in Las Vegas. The FEC documents indicate that campaign contributors paid for two trips to Vegas, one on April 1 and the other on April 22.
Other meals charged to his campaign account include the following:
-$1,981.79 at Johnny Half Shell, Washington, D. C. April 17. On that same day, Long charged $405.16 at Oceanaire, Washingtno, D. C., and $304.13 at the Capitol Hill Club, for a total of $2691.08.
-$440.90 at Charlie's Steak House, Washington, D. C. April 25
-$975 at Carmine's in Washington, D. C. May 23
-$308.45 at Charlie's Steak House, June 19
$1,010.82 at Johnny Half Shell June 20
$894 at Capitol Hill Club, June 17
In addition to the Las Vegas trips, Long reported $1,329.59 for "travel/hotel" to the New York Palace.
Long issued the following statement about his vote on food stamps:
The nutrition part of the Farm Bill never should have been part of it in the first place. The Farm Bill I supported yesterday (Thursday) is a good step in the right direction of separating these two issues. We need to provide certainty to our farmers who feed the nation. The next step Congress will be taking is addressing nutrition as a standalone item. We need to reform the food stamps program by closing loopholes that are abused to improperly access benefits to the detriment of those truly in need of help.
“It is imperative we make sure our limited resources are going to help people who are struggling in this persistently bad economy.”
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