I'm Ted Yoho and I represent Florida's
3rd Congressional District
Which happens to be the best part of Florida.
The first job I had was down in South Florida working at Cardinal Car Wash.
I'm 63 now and I can remember getting that job I was about 15 years of age
And I think I made a dollar 65 an hour
But I was so excited because it was a job that I was getting paid to do.
I remember my wife and her–
I wasn't married then I was only 15 but her mom and her drove through
that car wash so I could wash her car.
It was exciting because it was a feeling of independence.
I got married at 19. It was in 1975 the economy was terrible.
I lost my job and for a short period of time about six weeks my wife and I went
On food stamps and I was so thankful
because we came from a situation where
Neither of our parents were able to provide other than for themselves
And we were able to fall on the food stamp program as a safety net.
But man we live in America, a land of opportunity and we wanted better
And so we took advantage of that government program to get us through a tough time.
And we did that by working multiple jobs
Two to three jobs each of us.
I went to school and started off part-time at school at night school
And then I went ahead and got my Associates
And moved on became a
veterinarian.
And it was taking advantage of the opportunity here
But the thing that helped me get through that bridge
Was the safety net of the food stamp
program.
You know I'm passionate about the food
stamp program because I've been there
I know how people feel when they're in a situation where they might feel trapped
You know the goal is to get people in a program that need it
Help them move up and then to help them move out of that.
And what I found is when I can look back on my career
I felt most productive and most rewarding as an individual
By being able to be self-determining and self dependent and live the American Dream.
