[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 25 (Wednesday, March 11, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1802-S1803]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE--CUT BACK ON HUNGER

 Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, the nation's economy is the best 
it's been in decades. Under the leadership of President Clinton, 
business productivity has reached historic highs. Enterprise and 
entrepreneurship are flourishing, generating an extraordinary 
expansion, with remarkable efficiencies and job creation. Inflation and 
unemployment are at record lows.
  In the midst of this extraordinary prosperity, however, millions of 
Americans go to bed hungry each night. A report yesterday by Second 
Harvest, the network of food banks, documents that 26 million Americans 
received food and grocery products through Second Harvest in 1997.
  The report contains conclusions that should shock the conscience of 
us all. Children and the elderly are over-represented at emergency food 
outlets. Over a third of the beneficiaries are children, and 16% are 
senior citizens age 65 and older. Women make up 62% of those served at 
soup kitchens and food pantries. 47% are white, 32% are African-
American, 15% are Latino and 3% are Native American.
  Even more disturbing, the report finds that 39% of all emergency 
client households have at least one member who is working. Nearly half 
the employees in those households are working full-time. It is shocking 
that in America today, so many households with full-time workers are 
forced to rely on emergency food aid. 86% of households receiving 
emergency food aid earn less than $15,500 a year. 67% earn less than 
$10,000 a year. Kim, a single mother who works as a nurse, said ``I 
never thought I'd be in this situation. People think of the single 
mother and immediately stereotype her. Requiring emergency food 
assistance in today's blossoming environment is one thing that the 
public doesn't understand.''
  The reason why so many Americans need emergency food aid is obvious--
the current prosperity has passed them by. Their earnings are too low. 
Wanda, an emergency food client and mother of two, put it this way: 
``My husband works, but at the end of the month we just run out of 
money. I wouldn't know what to do if it weren't for the food pantry.''
  Raising the minimum wage is an important step toward solving this 
problem. Today, full-time minimum wage workers earn $10,712 a year--
$2,600 below the poverty level for a family of three. According to the 
Department of Labor, 60% of minimum wage earners are women; nearly 
three-fourths are adults; over half work full time. Their families need 
the money, and they deserve an increase in the minimum wage. If we 
believe in rewarding work, we have to be willing to pay working 
families more than a sub-poverty minimum wage.
  The American people understand that you can't raise a family on $5.15 
an hour. The 26 million Americans receiving food aid last year 
understand this fact of life all too well. We must raise the minimum 
wage, and raise it now. No one who works for a living should have to 
live in poverty.
  I ask that the first chapter of the Second Harvest report ``Hunger 
1997: The Faces and Facts,'' be printed in the Record.
  The material follows:

             The Faces & Facts of the People Who Are Hungry

       A kaleidoscope of faces that makeup the hungry in America 
     can be found behind the charts and graphs of this report. 
     Young and old. Employed and looking for work. Living in 
     suburbs, cities and rural areas. Many of them never 
     anticipated that they would ever need this type of support. 
     The reasons and circumstances are varied. The hidden face of 
     hunger in America is often missed. To reveal the faces behind 
     the facts, interviews were conducted at food pantries, food 
     shelves, soup kitchens, and emergency shelters--nearly 28,000 
     clients in all have provided their personal stories to this 
     research study. They have made an invaluable contribution to 
     this research effort.
       Their plight is the reason for this study. ``Hunger 1997: 
     The Faces & Facts'' describes the health and social 
     consequences of hunger. Second Harvest can use the 
     understanding of their situation to be able to serve them 
     more efficiently and effectively.
       This first part profiles the recipients of emergency food. 
     According to ``Hunger 1997: The Faces & Facts,'' 26 million 
     people in 1997 received food and grocery products through the 
     Second Harvest network of food banks.


                               EDUCATION

       According to labor statistics, educational attainment is 
     perhaps the greatest indicator of job and income mobility. 
     Thirty six percent have a high school diploma or equivalent. 
     Forty percent have not completed high school. Only five 
     percent of all emergency clients have attended college or 
     received a college degree.


                               GEOGRAPHY

       US Census Bureau statistics show that 90 percent of all 
     low-income people live outside urban ghettos. Census figures 
     indicate that the low-income population of suburbs is growing 
     at a faster rate than that of central cities or rural areas. 
     Agency service areas reflect the changing demography of the 
     people they serve with nearly one-third of agencies serving 
     suburban areas.

                               Employment

       More than one-third (38.6 percent) of all emergency client 
     households have at least one member who is working. Of those 
     households, 49 percent contain someone who is working full-
     time, 47.8 percent include someone who is working part-time 
     or has seasonal work. Two percent of all households include 
     someone who is enrolled in JOBS or other government sponsored 
     job-training program. Twelve percent of all emergency client 
     households include someone who is retired. Twenty one percent 
     of all emergency client households include someone who is 
     disabled. Thirty-five percent of all emergency client 
     households include someone who is unemployed.
       Eighty six percent of emergency client households earn less 
     than $15,500 annually. Ninety percent of emergency client 
     households served by the network have incomes at or below 150 
     percent of poverty.
       ``Nearly everyone of us is just two paychecks away from 
     financial crisis,'' says Richard Goebel, executive director 
     of the St. Paul Food Bank and a member of the Second Harvest 
     Board of Directors.
       Despite the strong economy and a low unemployment, many 
     emergency food recipients have limited incomes and job 
     security. As someone who has utilized emergency feeding 
     programs, Kim, an employed nurse and single mother, can 
     strongly relate to Goebel's words. ``I never thought I'd be 
     in this situation. People think of the single mother and 
     immediately stereotype her. Requiring emergency food 
     assistance in today's blossoming environment is one thing 
     that the public doesn't understand.''
       *Note--households may represent more than one family member 
     so numbers total more than 100%.

                       Reasons and Circumstances

       For many who have never had to deal with the problem of 
     hunger, it is beyond comprehension the reasons. Why do people 
     depend on emergency food? How Long have people depended on 
     emergency food programs? What about government resources?


                                  Why?

       Despite the strong economy, the percentage of people living 
     in poverty has hardly

[[Page S1803]]

     changed in the past year. The poverty level for a family of 
     three is currently $13,330 annually. Sixty-seven percent of 
     emergency client households have a yearly income of $10,000 
     or less. Wanda, an emergency food client and mother of two, 
     says, ``My husband works but at the end of the month we just 
     run out of money. I wouldn't know what to do if it weren't 
     for the food pantry.'' For millions of American families, low 
     wage jobs or inadequate government assistance are not 
     sufficient to provide a family's basic nutritional needs.


      How long have people depended on emergency food assistance?

       The study shows that most people seeking assistance are in 
     a temporary hunger crisis and are not long-term dependents. 
     Forty-four percent of Second Harvest clients have received 
     food and grocery products for six months or less; eighteen 
     percent for less than month.


                    What about government resources?

       Food stamps. Forty-one percent of emergency food clients 
     receive food stamps, 79 percent of those receiving food 
     stamps say that they do not last through the end of the 
     month. Eleven percent of food-stamp clients polled say their 
     benefits have been discontinued, and 20 percent have seen a 
     decrease in benefits. Of the clients not currently receiving 
     food stamps, 40 percent have applied and are awaiting 
     approval for benefits.
       Sixty-four percent of client households with children 
     participate in School Breakfast and Lunch programs, 31 
     percent of emergency clients with children participate in the 
     Special Supplement Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and 
     Children (WIC). Twenty one percent of emergency clients with 
     children participate in the Child- and Adult-Care Food 
     Programs, and/or Summer Food Program.
       Ninety-two percent of Second Harvest families with children 
     receive no government assistance for daycare.

                     Health and Social Consequences

       Twenty-eight percent of adults seeking food assistance have 
     missed meals in the last month because there wasn't enough 
     food, and (call out) 9% of clients' children have missed 
     meals in the past month.*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     * The United States Current Population Survey (CPS) defines 
     this situation as ``food insecure with severe hunger.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
       ``It's criminal that we live in a country that will allow a 
     child to go hungry,'' says Rick Ellenberger, an elementary 
     school teacher in Orlando. ``Studies show that if children 
     are not ready to learn by the time they are five or six years 
     old, we've lost them.
       The growing body of medical evidence shows that even short 
     periods of under-nutrition can affect a child's behavior, 
     cognitive development, and future productivity. ``Children 
     make up about one-third of our population, but they make up 
     100 percent of our future as a nation,'' states Dr. Joseph 
     Zanga, President, American Academy of Pediatrics. ``What 
     opportunities have we lost because a child was not nourished 
     properly? A scientist who discovers a cure for cancer? A 
     politician or statesman who brings lasting peace to the 
     world?''


                                 health

       Twenty-eight percent of emergency clients have had to 
     choose between medical care or filling prescriptions and 
     buying food. Thirty-seven percent have delayed medical care 
     because they couldn't afford it. Thirty-six percent of 
     emergency clients report that members of their household are 
     in poor health, and 41 percent of the clients have unpaid 
     medical or hospital bills. ``My husband is so frail that I 
     must stay home and take care of him and the children,'' says 
     Martina, whose husband is disabled due to being robbed and 
     shot while leaving his job. Although the family receives 
     Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and food stamps, it is not 
     enough to support a family of four.


                                housing

       Thirty-five percent of people seeking assistance have had 
     to choose between buying food and paying their rent or 
     mortgage. And, 15.8 percent of emergency food clients are 
     homeless, another 5 percent are living in marginal housing, 
     such as living with friends. Stanley, a disabled caretaker 
     whose partner works at a motel, says, ``If it wasn't for the 
     food pantry, we would starve at the end of the month. We pay 
     the rent and utilities first and from then on it's a day-to-
     day existence.''
                                                                    ____

       America is the richest country in the world. And, yet 
     tonight thousands of your neighbors will go to bed hungry. It 
     may be your child's schoolmate who is under-nourished and has 
     difficulty learning on an empty stomach. Or, it could be a 
     co-worker, a working mother whose low-wage job doesn't make 
     ends meet. Perhaps it's an elderly neighbor who has to make a 
     decision whether to delay filling a prescription or buying 
     groceries. ``The faces of hunger are as broad and diverse as 
     the faces of America,'' explained David Nasby, Director, 
     Community Affairs, General Mills, Inc., and chair of the 
     Second Harvest Board of Directors. ``It may be the neighbor 
     down the street who has encountered a tough situation or the 
     child who is estranged from a parent. It's everybody. People 
     you know and would never think hunger would touch. These 
     personal low points have an impact on every single 
     community.''
       Despite an economy that is thriving, unemployment is at a 
     30 year low, and a stock market that continues to reach 
     historic highs, more than 21 million people in this country 
     seek emergency food assistance through Second Harvest network 
     at least part of the year. These startling statistics include 
     eight million children, and more than three-and-a-half 
     million elderly.
       ``Hunger 1997: The Faces & Facts'' does not attempt to 
     simplify a complex social issue. Instead, it is Second 
     Harvest's hope that this research study will establish a 
     clearer picture of hunger in America and its effects on all 
     of us. No single strategy, tactic or program can solve the 
     problem. It takes a combined effort of community involvement, 
     government action, and charitable service to effect a 
     solution.
       Second Harvest's research shows the need is urgent. With 
     its network of certified affiliate food banks comprising the 
     largest domestic hunger-relief system in the country, the 
     data collected for ``Hunger 1997: The Faces & Facts'' has 
     contributed to the most comprehensive analysis of charitable 
     hunger-relief efforts ever conducted on a broad, national 
     scale.
       ``Hunger 1997: The Faces & Facts'' research study was 
     funded with generous grants from: The Aspen Institute 
     Nonprofit Sector Research Fund; Chicago Tribune Holiday Fund; 
     J. Willard Marriott Foundation; Mazon: A Jewish Response to 
     Hunger; Nabisco Foundation; Sara Lee Foundation; Share Our 
     Strength; and W.K. Kellogg Foundation. 

                          ____________________