[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 150 (Tuesday, December 20, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: December 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                           STARVING THE POOR

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, while the editorial ``Starving the 
Poor'' appeared in the New York Times some weeks ago, what it says is 
still pertinent.
  We should not continue to be the only modern industrial nation with a 
high percentage of our people in poverty.
  It is not an act of God, but the result of flawed political policies. 
And my fear is we may compound our problems.
  I ask that the editorial be printed in the Record.
  The editorial follows:

                [From the New York Times, Nov. 24, 1994]

                           Starving the Poor

       The poor, particularly at election time, are routinely 
     demonized for political gain. Their exploitation in this way 
     has brought us to a cruel place in the political landscape, a 
     place where Americans--conservative, moderate and liberal--
     are finding it frighteningly easy to blame the poor for their 
     own fate, even though that means condemning millions of 
     children to poverty, hunger and hopelessness.
       Given the savagery of the climate, it is useful to note 
     what the Roman Catholic Church is saying in response. The 
     church, through its efforts to feed and house America's poor, 
     is intimately familiar with the problem of poverty. Of late 
     the church's most compelling voice has been that of the 
     Archbishop of New York, John Cardinal O'Connor, who last 
     month lashed out at politicians who caricature the poor for 
     political benefit. Cardinal O'Connor's observations last 
     month in his column, published in the newspaper Catholic New 
     York, merit extensive quotation:
       ``Cuts in serving the poor are the cuts most vehemently 
     demanded and most popularly accepted because the poor have 
     been so grossly caricatured, easy to blame, easy to hate.'' 
     He continued: ```The poor are poor because they want to be 
     poor,' because `they don't want to work'. . . .: such are the 
     cliches by which the poor can starve to death. . . . Will we 
     be proud of ourselves to know that we have saved money on the 
     bellies of the starving? Will we ease our consciences by 
     asking with Scrooge, `Are there no prisons? Are there no 
     workhouses?'''
       About the cruel stereotyping of the poor, the Cardinal 
     said: ``It is increasingly rare for many of us . . . to 
     believe that people can be poor, but honest, poor, but 
     deserving of respect. Poverty is no longer blamed on anyone 
     but the poor themselves. Contempt for the poor has become a 
     virtue.''
       These views were underscored last week at the National 
     Conference of Catholic Bishops, meeting in Washington. Its 
     president, Archbishop William H. Keeler of Baltimore, warned 
     against ``punitive welfare provisions'' that would destroy 
     fragile families and bury children deeper in poverty. 
     Archbishop Keeler said the bishops' opposition to such 
     cruelty was not partisan, but based on the church's teachings 
     about ``the dignity of life.'' He put the church squarely on 
     the side of the vulnerable.
       By all means, reform the welfare system, end the cycle of 
     dependency, put able-bodied people to work. But politicians 
     also need to remember that the country has a moral obligation 
     to feed and protect those who cannot feed and protect 
     themselves. Even trying, we fall short of the mark. If we 
     cease to try at all, we inflict needless human suffering, and 
     become less of a society as we do.

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