[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2504 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2504

                      To eliminate child poverty.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 4, 2006

  Mr. Kennedy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                      To eliminate child poverty.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``End Child Poverty Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) More than 13,000,000 children in the United States who 
        are younger than 18 live below the poverty line.
            (2) Most parents of poor children are playing by the rules 
        by working to support their families. Despite their efforts, 
        many of these parents still cannot help their children get 
        ahead. Seven out of 10 poor children live in a working family 
        and 1 poor child in 3 lives with a full-time year-around 
        worker.
            (3) Poor children are at least twice as likely as non-poor 
        children to suffer stunted growth or lead poisoning, or to be 
        kept back in school. Poor children score significantly lower on 
        reading, mathematics, and vocabulary tests when compared with 
        otherwise similar non-poor children. In more than half of poor 
        households with children in the United States, the members of 
        the households experience serious deprivations during the year, 
        including lack of adequate food, utility shutoffs, crowded or 
        substandard housing, or lack of needed medical care.
            (4) Over 8,000,000 children under age 18 in the United 
        States lack health insurance. With a 2004 uninsured rate of 
        18.9 percent, poor children are more likely to be uninsured 
        than children generally.
            (5)(A) The members of 1 in 6 households with children in 
        the United States are hungry or on the verge of hunger, largely 
        due to inadequate household income.
            (B) Hungry children--
                    (i) tend to lack nutrients vital to healthy brain 
                development;
                    (ii) tend to have difficulty focusing their 
                attention and concentrating in school; and
                    (iii) often have greater emotional and behavioral 
                problems, have weaker immune systems, and are more 
                susceptible to infections, including anemia, than other 
                children.
            (6) Child poverty has risen significantly, by 1,440,000 
        since 2000.
            (7) The poverty rate for children in the United States is 
        substantially higher than that in most other wealthy 
        industrialized nations.
            (8) Children in the United States are more likely to live 
        in poverty than any other age group in the United States.
            (9) African-American and Latino children are much more 
        likely to live in poverty than White children. One third of 
        African-American children are low-income, as are nearly a third 
        of Latino children.
            (10) Great Britain made a public commitment to cut child 
        poverty in half in 10 years, and end child poverty by 2020, and 
        it has already successfully lifted 2,000,000 children out of 
        poverty.
            (11) Poverty is a moral issue and Congress has a moral 
        obligation to address it.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to set a national goal of cutting child poverty in half 
        within a decade, and eliminating child poverty entirely as soon 
        as possible; and
            (2) to establish a Child Poverty Elimination Trust Fund as 
        an initial measure to fund Federal programs to achieve that 
        goal.

SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN BY CHILD POVERTY ELIMINATION BOARD.

    (a) In General.--There is established a board to be known as the 
Child Poverty Elimination Board (referred to in this Act as the 
``Board'').
    (b) Composition.--
            (1) Appointments.--The Board shall be composed of 12 voting 
        members, to be appointed not later than 60 days after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, as follows:
                    (A) Senators.--One Senator shall be appointed by 
                the majority leader of the Senate, and one Senator 
                shall be appointed by the minority leader of the 
                Senate.
                    (B) Members of the house of representatives.--One 
                Member of the House of Representatives shall be 
                appointed by the Speaker of the House of 
                Representatives, and one Member of the House of 
                Representatives shall be appointed by the minority 
                leader of the House of Representatives.
                    (C) Additional members.--
                            (i) Appointment.--Two members each shall be 
                        appointed by--
                                    (I) the Speaker of the House of 
                                Representatives;
                                    (II) the majority leader of the 
                                Senate;
                                    (III) the minority leader of the 
                                House of Representatives; and
                                    (IV) the minority leader of the 
                                Senate.
                            (ii) Expertise.--Members appointed under 
                        this subparagraph shall be appointed on the 
                        basis of demonstrated expertise in child 
                        poverty issues.
            (2) Period of appointment; vacancies.--Members shall be 
        appointed for the life of the Board. Any vacancy on the Board 
        shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment 
        was made. The vacancy shall not affect the power of the 
        remaining members to execute the duties of the Board.
            (3) Chairperson and vice chairman.--The Board shall elect a 
        chairperson and a vice chairperson from among the members of 
        the Board.
            (4) Meetings.--The Board shall first meet not later than 30 
        days after the date on which all members are appointed, and the 
        Board shall meet thereafter at the call of the chairperson or 
        vice chairperson or a majority of the members.
    (c) Plan and Report.--
            (1) Plan.--The Board shall meet regularly to develop a plan 
        for cutting child poverty in half within a decade, and 
        eliminating child poverty entirely as soon as possible. The 
        plan shall include recommendations for allocations of funds 
        from the Child Poverty Elimination Trust Fund established in 
        section 9511 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, to carry out 
        the plan.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Board shall prepare and submit a 
        report containing the plan to the Committee on Education and 
        the Workforce of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 
        Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and the 
        President.
    (d) Powers.--
            (1) Hearings and sessions.--The Board may hold such 
        hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such 
        testimony, and receive such evidence as the Board considers 
        appropriate. The Board may administer oaths or affirmations to 
        witnesses appearing before it.
            (2) Access to information.--The Board may secure directly 
        from any Federal agency information necessary to enable the 
        Board to carry out this Act, if the information may be 
        disclosed under section 552 of title 5, United States Code. 
        Subject to the previous sentence, on the request of the 
        chairperson or vice chairperson of the Board, the head of such 
        agency shall furnish such information to the Board.
            (3) Use of facilities and services.--Upon the request of 
        the Board, the head of any Federal agency may make available to 
        the Board any of the facilities and services of such agency.
            (4) Personnel from other agencies.--On the request of the 
        Board, the head of any Federal agency may detail any of the 
        personnel of such agency to serve as an Executive Director of 
        the Board or assist the Board in carrying out the duties of the 
        Board. Any detail shall not interrupt or otherwise affect the 
        civil service status or privileges of the Federal employee.
            (5) Voluntary service.--Notwithstanding section 1342 of 
        title 31, United States Code, the chairperson of the Board may 
        accept for the Board voluntary services provided by a member of 
        the Board.
    (e) Compensation.--
            (1) Pay.--Members of the Board shall serve without 
        compensation.
            (2) Travel expenses.--Members of the Board shall be allowed 
        reasonable travel expenses, including a per diem allowance, in 
        accordance with section 5703 of title 5, United States Code, 
        when performing duties of the Board.

SEC. 5. ISSUANCE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN.

    (a) Issuance.--Not later than 90 days after receiving the report 
containing the plan developed by the Board under section 4(c), the 
President shall review the report, and shall issue a plan for cutting 
child poverty in half within a decade, and eliminating child poverty 
entirely as soon as possible. The plan shall include specifications and 
allocations of funds to be made from the Child Poverty Elimination 
Trust Fund, to carry out the plan.
    (b) Relationship to Board Plan.--The plan issued under subsection 
(a) shall be the same as the plan developed by the Board under section 
4(c) except insofar as the President may determine, for good cause 
shown and stated together with the plan issued under subsection (a), 
that a modification of the Board's plan would be more effective for 
eliminating child poverty.
    (c) Implementation.--Not later than 90 days after issuing a plan 
under subsection (a), the President shall ensure the implementation of 
the plan issued under subsection (a), and shall work with Congress to 
ensure funding for the implementation of the plan.

SEC. 6. IMPOSITION OF INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX SURCHARGE TO FUND CHILD 
              POVERTY ELIMINATION FUND.

    (a) In General.--Section 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to imposition of tax on individuals) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new subsection:
    ``(j) Additional Income Tax.--
            ``(1) In general.--If the adjusted gross income of an 
        individual exceeds the threshold amount, the tax imposed by 
        this section (determined without regard to this subsection) 
        shall be increased by an amount equal to 1 percent of so much 
        of the adjusted gross income as exceeds the threshold amount.
            ``(2) Threshold amounts.--For purposes of this subsection, 
        the term `threshold amount' means--
                    ``(A) $1,000,000 in the case of a joint return, and
                    ``(B) $500,000 in the case of any other return.
            ``(3) Tax not to apply to estates and trusts.--This 
        subsection shall not apply to an estate or trust.''.
    (b) Coordination With Minimum Tax.--Section 55(c) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (defining regular tax) is amended by redesignating 
paragraph (3) as paragraph (4) and by inserting after paragraph (2) the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Coordination with minimum tax.--Solely for purposes 
        of this section, section 1(j) shall not apply in computing the 
        regular tax.''.
    (c) Establishment of Child Poverty Elimination Fund.--
            (1) In general.--Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the Internal 
        Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to trust fund code) is amended 
        by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 9511. CHILD POVERTY ELIMINATION TRUST FUND.

    ``(a) Creation of Trust Fund.--There is established in the Treasury 
of the United States a trust fund to be known as the `Child Poverty 
Elimination Trust Fund' (referred to in this section as the `Trust 
Fund'), consisting of such amounts as may be appropriated or credited 
to the Trust Fund as provided in this section or section 9602(b).
    ``(b) Transfers to Trust Fund.--There is hereby appropriated to the 
Trust Fund an amount equivalent to the increase in revenues received in 
the Treasury as the result of the surtax imposed under section 1(j).
    ``(c) Distribution of Amounts in Trust Fund.--Amounts in the Trust 
Fund shall be available, as provided by appropriation Acts, to make 
expenditures in connection with Federal programs designed to carry out 
the plan issued by the President under section 5 of the End Child 
Poverty Act, to eliminate child poverty.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--The table of sections for 
        subchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code is amended by adding at 
        the end the following:

        ``Sec. 9511. Child Poverty Elimination Trust Fund.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2005.
    (e) Section 15 Not To Apply.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
shall not be treated as a change in a rate of tax for purposes of 
section 15 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
                                 <all>