Congressman Who Voted For Drug Testing Food Stamp Recipients Busted For Cocaine

Representative Trey Radel was a major proponent of Republican legislation to make food stamp recipients submit to drug tests before receiving assistance.

The proposal for those on food stamps to urinate in cups to prove they’re not on drugs received widespread praise from Republicans. But only a month after he backed the proposal, police busted the Florida Republican on a charge of cocaine possession.

That’s right, the Republican politician who wanted to drug test poor people – those tests incurring huge tax-payer expenses – was himself using drugs.

“It’s really interesting it came on the heels of Republicans voting on everyone who had access to food stamps get drug tested,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said to BuzzFeed. “It’s like, what?”

The House approved an amendment by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), back in the summer of 2013, that allowed states to decide whether or not to test people on food stamps.

The amendment passed by voice vote. That means there was no record of who voted which way for the amendment.

But later, Radel voted for even further-reaching legislation that allowed for broader food stamps restrictions, including Hudson’s measure.

Hudson cited state legislatures around the country which had proposed similar things in recent years. But in time these efforts would prove ineffective – a waste of tax-payer money, that actually found virtually no one on food stamps using drugs.

“This is a clear and obvious problem in our communities as nearly 30 states have introduced legislation to drug test for welfare programs,” Hudson stated. “We have a moral obligation to equip the states with the tools they need to discourage the use of illegal drugs.”

Back in June of 2012, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) asked why recipients of crop insurance and other government benefits haven’t also been targeted for drug testing.

“Why don’t we drug test all the members of Congress here,” McGovern asked. “Force everybody to go urinate in a cup or see whether or not anybody is on drugs? Maybe that will explain why some of these amendments are coming up or why some of the votes are turning out the way they are.”

In fact, the majority of Americans support such a measure. They want to see politicians drug tested. After all, they are the ones passing so many of the drug laws in this country, and they are doing so on our dime. Isn’t it time that they step up to the plate and prove they aren’t using drugs like Rep. Radel was?