[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 159 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 159

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the current 
   record breaking wealth gap is a national problem for the nation's 
  economic security, and that broad-based, generational and systemic 
 inequities continue to distort economic progress and opportunity for 
    tens of millions of Americans -especially low and middle-income 
                  Americans and communities of color.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 18, 2015

 Ms. Maxine Waters of California (for herself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Meeks, 
 Mr. Rangel, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. 
 Clarke of New York, Mr. Butterfield, Ms. Lee, Mr. Lewis, Mrs. Beatty, 
  Mr. Ted Lieu of California, Mr. Richmond, Ms. Bass, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. 
 DeLauro, Ms. Moore, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Clay, Ms. Jackson Lee, 
 Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Jeffries, Mr. Hastings, Mr. 
    Cleaver, Mr. McDermott, Ms. Chu of California, Mr. Vargas, Ms. 
Slaughter, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Plaskett, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Sewell 
 of Alabama, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Rush, Ms. Adams, Mr. Thompson of 
  California, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. 
Delaney, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Ellison, Ms. 
Edwards, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Ms. Brown 
    of Florida, Mr. Lynch, and Ms. Kelly of Illinois) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
                           and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the current 
   record breaking wealth gap is a national problem for the nation's 
  economic security, and that broad-based, generational and systemic 
 inequities continue to distort economic progress and opportunity for 
    tens of millions of Americans -especially low and middle-income 
                  Americans and communities of color.

Whereas wealth is the difference between the value of a family's assets and 
        debts, and is considered a measure of a family's ability to buy a home, 
        start a businesses, sustain emergencies, fund educational goals, provide 
        intergenerational inheritance, and save for retirement;
Whereas wealth inequality has reached a record level high and has become a 
        central concern over whether the United States is on a sustainable 
        economic path;
Whereas, in 1983, when the Federal Reserve first started collecting wealth data, 
        upper-income household wealth was $318,000, middle-income household was 
        $94,300 and lower-income household wealth was $11,400;
Whereas, since 1983, upper-income household wealth has doubled to $639,400, 
        middle-income household wealth has risen by roughly $2,000 to $96,500 
        and lower-income household wealth has decreased by over $2,000 and is 
        currently $9,300;
Whereas upper-income household wealth is currently 6.6 times higher than the 
        wealth of middle-income households and is nearly 70 times that of the 
        Nation's lower-income households;
Whereas the wealthiest 20% of the population holds over 80% of the Nation's 
        wealth and the top 1% possess approximately 37% of the Nation's wealth;
Whereas households in the bottom 10% declined from having no wealth in 1963 to 
        being roughly $2,000 in debt in 2013;
Whereas the current wealth gap between upper-income households and the rest of 
        the country is the widest gap experienced in 30 years since the Federal 
        Reserve began collecting this data;
Whereas the decline in wealth of the Nation's middle and lower class has not 
        been shared equally across demographic groups and the wealth gap between 
        communities of color and Whites, commonly known as the racial wealth 
        gap, is also widening;
Whereas according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the average wealth 
        level for White households is $134,000--as compared to $91,000 for 
        Asians, $14,000 for Latinos, and $11,000 for African-Americans, which 
        makes the median wealth of White households 13 times the median wealth 
        of Black households, and more than 10 times the median wealth of Latino 
        households;
Whereas the median liquid wealth for African-American households is $200, $340 
        for Latinos, $19,500 for Asians, and $23,000 for whites;
Whereas, in 2013, White households had $100,000 more in liquid retirement 
        savings than African-American or Latino households, who held roughly 
        $19,000 and $12,000 in liquid retirement savings, respectively;
Whereas wealth in America is primarily accumulated through home equity and 
        making home ownership an important strategy of financial stability and 
        moving families out of poverty, especially for middle class families and 
        communities of color;
Whereas in 2007, homeownership accounted for 65% of middle-income household 
        wealth and 32% for upper-income household wealth;
Whereas, prior to 2007, for African-American households, homeownership 
        constituted 92% of their wealth and 67% of Latino household wealth, 
        compared to 58% of wealth for White households;
Whereas the current unprecedented wealth gap was fueled by the Great Recession 
        of 2007-2009 when home prices fell by 24%, $10 trillion was lost in the 
        stock market, almost 5 million homes fell into foreclosure, and the 
        Nation experienced general financial decline;
Whereas during the Great Recession, upper-income household wealth declined by 
        17%, while middle-income household wealth declined by 39%, and low-
        income household wealth declined by 41%;
Whereas the Great Recession had the most profound impact on African-Americans 
        whose wealth declined by approximately 52%, and Latino households whose 
        wealth declined by 66%, compared to a 16% decrease in wealth for White 
        households;
Whereas the Great Recession reduced the value of homes disproportionately for 
        minorities as the average real home values for Latino homeowners 
        decreased nearly $100,000 or 35% and nearly $69,000 or 31% for African-
        American homeowners, while the average home values for White homeowners 
        fell 15% over this same period;
Whereas upper-income households have largely recouped much of their losses from 
        the Great Recession, while middle- and lower-income households and 
        people of color have yet to experience the effects of the Nation's 
        economic recovery;
Whereas 95% of economic gains during the recovery period from the Great 
        Recession went to the top 1% of the population;
Whereas, during the recovery, the median wealth of White households increased by 
        2.4% from $138,600 to $141,900, while the median wealth of African-
        American households fell 33.7%, from $16,600 to $11,000 and the median 
        wealth for Latino households decreased by 14.3%, from $16,000 to 
        $13,700;
Whereas upper-income families were largely able to weather the storm of the 
        Great Recession due to an ability to invest in the stock market and 
        other financial products, which have been the primary source of much of 
        the Nation's gains in wealth since the economic crisis;
Whereas, in 2007, the wealthiest 20% of households held 15% of their wealth in 
        investments, stocks, and other similar financial products, the 
        wealthiest 1% of households held 25% of their wealth in investments and 
        stocks, and middle-income households held just 3% of their wealth in 
        similar stocks, investments, and other financial products;
Whereas wages and income largely determine a family's ability to invest in the 
        stock market;
Whereas middle- and low-income households and communities of color have 
        experienced wage stagnation requiring them to spend the majority of 
        their income on everyday items and basic needs, as opposed to investment 
        in the stock market, which has recovered and generated wealth more 
        quickly than the housing market;
Whereas, since 1979, middle-wage workers' hourly wages have risen 6%, low-wage 
        workers' wages have decreased 5%, and upper-wage workers have 
        experienced a 41% wage increase;
Whereas, from 1980-2013, households with the top 1% of income experienced wage 
        growth at a rate of 138%, while wages of households in the bottom 90% 
        experienced wage growth at a rate of 15%;
Whereas, CEOs now make 296 times what a typical worker earns;
Whereas income inequality also falls along racial lines as during the years of 
        economic recovery, the median income of minority households fell 9% 
        compared to a decrease of just 1% for White households, leaving minority 
        households with less money to replenish savings and invest in the stock 
        market even after the Great Recession;
Whereas President Barack Obama has stated that the growing inequality in our 
        country and lack of upward mobility for the middle class is the 
        ``defining challenge of our time'';
Whereas Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, has warned that income inequality 
        is a ``very serious problem'';
Whereas a September 2014 study by Harvard Business School, titled, ``An Economy 
        Doing Half Its Job'' stated that the growing disparity between the very 
        wealthy and the lower and middle classes is no longer sustainable;
Whereas in a draft statement, the Group of 20 finance officials, commonly known 
        as G-20, for the first time warned that growing income inequality could 
        harm economic growth; and
Whereas economists at the International Monetary Fund have argued that higher 
        inequality is correlated with lower and less, long-lasting growth: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes that all families need to be economically 
        secure to create opportunities for their children and the 
        Nation's next generation;
            (2) recognizes that wealth and income inequality hurt 
        economic growth and risks economic security for individual 
        families, our communities, and the Nation as a whole;
            (3) supports the elimination of the wealth gap and the 
        racial wealth gap as national economic security priorities; and
            (4) acknowledges that Congress has a responsibility to 
        implement thoughtful, proven and pragmatic policy strategies to 
        eliminate the wealth gap and the racial wealth gap.
                                 <all>