[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 54 (Thursday, March 23, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                             WAR ON POVERTY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, as I stand before you, we have got to 
realize that America has been at war, and that war has been called a 
war on poverty. America has spent 30 years in this war, and we have 
spent over $3.5 trillion.
  You know, it only cost America $21 billion to win World War I, but 
that war that we are losing now is the war on poverty at great expense, 
not just taxpayers' dollars expense but expense to a whole class of 
people that have been held in bondage for generation after generation 
and cannot get out of the bondage.
  If we were at war, what would you expect the generals to do, Mr. 
Speaker? What would the American people expect the generals to do? The 
American people would expect that the generals would come together and 
plan a new strategy. And that is exactly what the Republican majority 
is doing, planning a new strategy to free a whole class of Americans.
  Unfortunately, this class of Americans has not been able to see the 
light at the end of the table or at the end of the tunnel. This class 
of Americans have never really been able to realize that unique gifting 
that our Creator has given them and them alone to be all they can be in 
this society.
  You know, I stand here before you, Mr. Speaker, as a woman who raised 
two teenage children when I was found to be a single parent, and my 
income was at the poverty level. But sometimes to get through life it 
takes a bit of a struggle and sometimes to realize all you can be takes 
a bit of a struggle.
  And, you know, what our new program will do will be able to free 
people up to begin to realize what their level of self-esteem is. 
Because you can only find your self-esteem by being able to produce 
something in the workplace and the home. This is the most compassionate 
of all programs that we have seen in the last 30 years.
  You know, my father told me that one of the best things that a person 
can do for another friend is not to give them a fish that would feed 
them for just 1 day but to really help them understand how to craft a 
fishing pole and then be able to feed himself for life.
  Yes, the Republican plan is tough love, but it is a plan that will 
free people, free them to be all they can be in this great Nation.

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