The coronavirus pandemic helped spotlight a troubling issue for many military families: food insecurity.

Many military families are ineligible for SNAP benefits because their housing allowances count as income.

“Our bipartisan Military Hunger Prevention Act would make up for that loss by providing certain military households with a basic needs allowance to purchase groceries,” Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) said in a statement. He recently introduced the bill with Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), according to Federal News Network.

Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) have asked the Pentagon to name a point person on the issue and provide Congress a report.

“[Service members] are obligated to honor the commitments they have made by choosing to serve and protect our freedoms. We too have an obligation — to make sure that our military families have what they need to not just survive but thrive,” they wrote in a March letter to the administration.

Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Omari Bernard