110 HCON 19 IH: Affirming the sense of Congress regarding
U.S. House of Representatives
2007-01-09
text/xml
EN
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Whereas 8.7 percent of whites, 9.8 percent of
Asian-Americans, 21.9 percent of Latinos, and 24.7 percent of African-Americans
in lived in poverty in the United States in 2004;
Whereas the poverty rate is highest in rural counties,
with 14.5 percent of the population poor;
Whereas the top 5 most impoverished States according to
the Census Bureau are Mississippi, New Mexico, West Virginia, Louisiana, and
the District of Columbia;
Whereas extreme poverty is defined as people with income
of less than 1/2 of the poverty level;
Whereas 12,896,000 children in the United States under the
age of 18 lived in poverty in 2005, and the number of children living in
extreme poverty rose by 87,000 from 2004–2005;
Whereas, between 2004 and 2005, the real median earnings
for female full-time, full-year workers declined by 1.3 percent and for male
full-time, full-year workers declined by 1.8 percent;
Whereas, in 2005, an estimated 33 percent of the homeless
population are children and an estimated 1,350,000 children will experience
homelessness in a year;
Whereas homeless children face more barriers to school
enrollment and attendance due to a lack of available transportation, residency
requirements, inability to obtain previous school records, and a lack of
clothing and school supplies;
Whereas homeless children are in fair or poor health
condition twice as often as other children and have higher rates of asthma, ear
infections, stomach problems, and speech problems;
Whereas the number of uninsured Americans rose to
46,577,000 in 2005, 1,272,000 more than in the previous year, and the number of
Americans without health insurance has risen for 4 consecutive years;
Whereas the Census Bureau found that more than 25 percent
of households with an income of less than $25,000 did not have health insurance
in 2005, whereas 91 percent of households with incomes of $75,000 or more had
health insurance;
Whereas the Department of Agriculture has found that, in
2005, 35,100,000 people lived in households experiencing food insecurity,
meaning that they did not have adequate access to enough food to meet basic
dietary needs to all times due to a lack of financial resources;
Whereas the Census Bureau survey on food security has
found those at greatest risk of being hungry live in households that are headed
by a single woman, a Latino or African-American, or with income below the
poverty line;
Whereas households with children experience food
insecurity at more than double the rate for households without children;
Whereas the Department of Labor records the unemployment
level at the third quarter of 2006 as being 4.1 percent for whites, 9.2 percent
for African-Americans and 5.3 percent for Latinos; and
Whereas on January 20, 2001, President Bush stated
In the quiet of American conscience, we know that deep, persistent
poverty is unworthy of our nation’s promise. Where there is suffering, there is
duty. Americans in need are not strangers, they are citizens, not problems, but
priorities. And all of us are diminished when any are hopeless. And I can
pledge our nation to a goal: When we see that wounded traveler on the road to
Jericho, we will not pass to the other side.
: Now, therefore, be
it
That it is the sense of Congress
that—
(1)the United States has an obligation to
improve the lives of the 36,950,000 Americans living in poverty and the
15,928,000 of those who live in extreme poverty; and
(2)the President
should immediately present to Congress a comprehensive plan to eradicate
poverty by 2015.