Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., criticized the United States Department of Agriculture for trying to expand food stamp enrollment “regardless of need,” adding the the government officials seem personally offended when Americans reject the assistance.

“It has become increasingly clear that, in recent years, the mission of the food stamp program has been converted from targeted assistance for those in need into an aggressive drive to expand enrollment regardless of need,” Sessions, the Ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, said in a statement today. “USDA’s activities suggest that the program administrators take personal offense when people who technically qualify for their largesse decline to accept—and see it as an obstacle to overcome.”

Sessions’ statement came in the wake of reports on USDA efforts to expand food stamp enrollment. The Daily Caller observed that the USDA had rolled out Spanish-language radio novelas designed to expand food stamp enrollment — even among households that believe they make enough money to support themselves without government assistance. The Weekly Standard noted today that USDA promotional materials say “everyone wins” when food stamp rolls increase.

“The sound policy, and the compassionate course, is not a drive to place the largest possible number of people on welfare support,” Sessions concluded. “[I]nstead, we should seek, whenever possible, to help our fellow Americans realize personal and financial independence.”