[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 198 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 198


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 23, 2008

Received and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
                                Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States has a moral 
     responsibility to meet the needs of those persons, groups and 
   communities that are impoverished, disadvantaged or otherwise in 
                                poverty.

Whereas poverty can be seen as a deep, structural problem that implicates our 
        value system and our educational and economic institutions;
Whereas poverty may be defined as the lack of basic necessities of life such as 
        food, shelter, clothing, health care, education, security, and 
        opportunity;
Whereas policy initiatives addressing poverty have not kept pace with the needs 
        of millions of Americans;
Whereas many experts believe that the lack of an equitable distribution of 
        housing choices across the country leads to isolation and concentrated 
        poverty;
Whereas the number of Americans living in poverty has risen by over 5,000,000 
        since 2000;
Whereas there were 37 million Americans living in poverty in 2005;
Whereas the official poverty rate in 2005 was 12.6 percent;
Whereas 24.9 percent of African Americans, 21.8 percent of Hispanics, 25.3 
        percent of Native Americans, 10.9 percent of Asian Americans, and 8.3 
        percent of Whites lived in poverty in the United States in 2005;
Whereas in 2005 a family of 4 was considered poor under the U.S. Census Bureau's 
        official measure if the family's income was below $19,971;
Whereas the poverty rate for children 18 years and younger (17.6 percent) 
        remained higher than that of 18-24 year-olds (11.1 percent) and that of 
        people 65 and older (10.1 percent) in 2005; and
Whereas the number in poverty increased for people 65 and older by almost 
        400,000 since 2000: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that the United States should set a 
national goal of cutting poverty in half over the next 10 years.

            Passed the House of Representatives January 22, 2008.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.