[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 127 (Monday, September 27, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11502-S11503]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      WELFARE REFORM AND THE COLLEGE OPTION: A NATIONAL CONFERENCE

 Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, this weekend, the McAuley 
Institute, Wider Opportunities for Women, the Center for Women Policy 
Studies, and the Howard Samuels State Management and Policy Center of 
CUNY hosted a national conference on the important relationship between 
welfare reform and higher education. On Friday night, they held an 
opening night reception and awards ceremony. Unfortunately, I was 
unable to attend, but I ask to have printed in the Record a letter that 
was read on my behalf as part of the ceremony.
  The letter follows.

                                               September 24, 1999.
       To All in Attendance: First, I would like to begin by 
     apologizing for the fact that I can't be here in person to 
     accept this award. Certainly, I always like to attend any 
     dinner that someone has gone to the trouble of holding in my 
     honor, but even more so I would love to attend your 
     conference focusing on the important relationship between 
     education and economic self-sufficiency.
       Second, I would like to thank all of the sponsors of this 
     conference--the McAuley Institute, Wider Opportunities for 
     Women, the Center for Women's Policy Studies, and the Howard 
     Samuels State Management and Policy Center of CUNY--for 
     presenting me with this award. I have worked with these 
     groups in the past on important legislative efforts, and 
     deeply respect the work that each of these organizations has 
     done to protect and advance the well-being of the most needy 
     among us.
       Having done that, though, I would also like to take this 
     time to talk a little bit about poverty and need.
       We live in a nation of riches. Since 1969, the era when we 
     launched our War on Poverty, we have seen the nation's total 
     wealth per person grow by 62 percent, and as a nation, we 
     consumed 73 percent more material goods and services per 
     person in 1997 than we did 1969. Yet during that same time, 
     the number of poor children in America grew by 46 percent, or 
     more than 4 million children. About one-half of this growth 
     represented the growing number of poor children in families 
     headed by someone who worked.
       1998 was a year of economic prosperity for many Americans. 
     Many of us have benefitted greatly from a strong economy: 
     unemployment is at its lowest level since 1969, and for the 
     second year in a row wages have gone up, cutting across the 
     traditional barriers of race, ethnicity and education.
       Unfortunately, though, these gains have barely been felt by 
     those left behind by the growing economic inequality we see 
     in this country. New figures on family income show that the 
     gap between low- and moderate-income families and rich 
     families is at an all-time high. During the 1990s, we have 
     seen a disturbing trend in income gains--the rich in America 
     are benefitting in ways that the poor are not: While the 
     richest 20 percent of households gained about $15,000 dollars 
     in annual income between 1990 and 1997, the poorest 20 
     percent of families gained only about

[[Page S11503]]

     $35 in annual income. That's a gain of 15 percent versus a 
     gain of less than 1 percent.
       A recent study by the Center on Budget and Policy 
     Priorities offers further evidence of the widening income gap 
     between the rich and the poor in this country. Using 
     Congressional Budget Office data, they found that the after-
     tax income of the richest one percent of the population will 
     more than double between 1977 and 1999, rising 115 percent 
     after adjusting for inflation. At the same time, the average 
     after-tax income for middle-income households, which accounts 
     for 60 percent of all households, will increase by only 8 
     percent--less than one-half a percent per year--and the 
     average income of the poorest twenty percent of households 
     will actually decrease. As a result of these large increases 
     in income among the rich and the loss of income among the 
     poor, CBPP estimates that in 1999, the richest twenty percent 
     of households in the U.S. will have slightly more income than 
     the other 80 percent of households combined, and the 2.7 
     million Americans with the highest incomes will have as much 
     after-tax income as the 100 million Americans with the lowest 
     incomes.
       My own state of Minnesota provides a telling example of how 
     some of our families are being left behind: Minnesota leads 
     the country in low unemployment--less than 3 percent 
     statewide, less than 2 percent in the Minneapolis-St. Paul 
     area. But even with such impressive figures, we still see a 
     situation where unemployment in our poorest central-city 
     neighborhoods hovers around 15 percent, and a horrifying 60 
     percent of the children who live in these neighborhoods are 
     growing up in poverty. And it isn't just in our cities, but 
     also among our rural communities, particularly our farm 
     communities, where we see similar levels of poverty and need.
       And when we talk about people being poor, we are talking 
     about people in desperate need. It never fails to amaze me 
     what the Federal government defines as poor--in 1997, a 
     three-person family was ``officially'' poor if it made less 
     than $12,802 a year. Even more upsetting, though, is that 
     most poor families in the U.S. don't even meet this minimum. 
     The average poor family with children received in 1997 only 
     $8,688 a year in total income from all sources--the 
     equivalent of $724 a month, $167 a week, less than $24 a day.
       Of course, those who suffer the most from poverty in this 
     country are our children. It makes me sick just thinking 
     about it. America's youngest children, those under the age of 
     6, are more likely to live in poverty than any other age 
     group. During the past two decades there has been a 
     substantial increase in the number and percentage of poor 
     young people in the United States. The young child poverty 
     rate has grown among all racial and ethnic groups, and in 
     urban, suburban, and rural areas. The number of American 
     young children living in poverty increased from 3.5 million 
     in 1979 to 5.2 million in 1997. The young child poverty rate 
     grew by 20 percent during those two decades, and currently 
     one-in-five young children in the U.S. live in poverty. 
     Nearly one-in-two young African American children live in 
     poverty, and about one in three young Latino children live in 
     poverty in the U.S.
       Still more horrifying, one in ten young children in the 
     U.S. live in extreme poverty, in families with incomes less 
     than half the poverty level, an amount of only $6,401 for a 
     family of three in 1997. Nearly half of the children living 
     in poverty in the U.S. live in extreme poverty. Currently, 
     the extreme poverty rate among young children is growing 
     faster than the young child poverty rate.
       I think what I find most upsetting is not the fact that so 
     many among us still live in poverty, but that so many of 
     those who live in poverty are hard-working parents who are 
     doing everything--everything--that they can. But they still 
     aren't making it. Sixty-one percent of the average poor 
     family's income comes from work--$5,295 a year, $441 a month, 
     $102 a week, or less than $15 a day. For an 8 hour workday, 
     that means someone was earning just under $2 an hour. Only 
     twenty-one percent of our average poor family's income came 
     from welfare--just $1,824 a year, $152 a month, $35 a week, 
     or less than $5 a day. And a majority of all poor children 
     under age 6, 65 percent, live with at least one employed 
     parent. Only one-sixth of poor young children live in 
     families who rely solely on public assistance for income.
       How is this possible? How can we live in a time when there 
     are people who literally can't support themselves and their 
     families despite the fact that they work, often nearly 52 
     weeks a year, 40 hours a week, sometimes more than one job. 
     In a time of unprecedented economic well-being, of budget 
     surpluses, and an 8.6 trillion dollar economy, it is criminal 
     that there are those living among us, who are doing 
     everything within their powers to make ends meet, who cannot 
     provide the basic needs of day-to-day survival for themselves 
     and their families.
       We need to ask ourselves, we must ask ourselves, what is 
     happening when we see this happening. We should be 
     desperately concerned when we see that the average income of 
     American families living in poverty actually declined between 
     1996 and 1997. Simply put, this is both inexcusable and 
     utterly unacceptable. Even in the hardest of times, no 
     family, no child, in this country should be forced to go 
     without the basic necessities of food, shelter, and medical 
     care. But even more so, in a time of unparalleled economic 
     prosperity, how can any one not react with both despair and 
     outrage when confronted by such a scenario?
       There is much to be done, much that should be done, much 
     that must be done. I am deeply committed to doing my part: I 
     will continue to offer legislation that protects the rights 
     of the poorest among us, and to fight to help them provide 
     for their needs. I have sponsored or co-sponsored legislation 
     to raise the minimum wage; to find out what's happening to 
     people when they lose their welfare benefits; to allow 
     welfare recipients to count two years of education or 
     vocational training toward their TANF work requirements; to 
     ensure that everyone in America has access to quality, 
     affordable healthcare and child care; and to guarantee that 
     women and children who are victims and survivors of domestic 
     violence have the economic resources and security they need 
     to leave abusive situations. We in Congress must recognize 
     that it isn't enough to tell people they must work, but we 
     also need to provide them with a wide range of supports while 
     they try to make the difficult transition from poverty to 
     economic self-sufficiency. All of it goes together--we must 
     address each if we intend to solve any.
       There is so much that you can do with me as well. I urge 
     you to follow what happens in Congress and with the 
     Administration and make your opinion known to your 
     Representatives, to your Senators, and to the President--
     write, e-mail, fax, and phone. Participate in every way you 
     can, not only for yourselves but also for those who might not 
     feel able to. We must all give a voice to those who are most 
     likely to go unheard, and we must teach them to speak loudly 
     for themselves. We must also make sure that people don't 
     forget the less fortunate among us. Sometimes in our own 
     prosperity, it is easier to simply turn away from that which 
     is difficult or painful to witness. We must not relax our 
     efforts, and we must never allow anyone to declare the war 
     against poverty won until there is no one, no mother, no 
     child, who lies down at night hungry or homeless. No one 
     should have to worry about whether or not they can provide 
     medical care for a sick loved one, or whether or not their 
     child is safe in daycare while they are at work.
       I know that I am preaching to the choir at this point, so I 
     will close by simply praising you for all of your efforts--
     each and every one of you is fighting this fight right on the 
     front lines--and by urging you not to bend and not to give 
     up. In the face of spending cuts, changing priorities, and a 
     simple lack of concern, you are the real ``poverty 
     warriors.''
       And finally, I thank you again for honoring me this 
     evening.
           Sincerely,
                                                Paul D. Wellstone,
     U.S. Senator.

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