[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 82 (Wednesday, June 13, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1092]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              INTRODUCING THE CHILD POVERTY REDUCTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 13, 2001

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Child Poverty 
Reduction Act. Senator Charles Schumer is introducing companion 
legislation in the Senate.
  During the welfare debate of 1995-96, I had concerns that too much 
emphasis was placed on kicking people off of welfare rolls rather than 
reducing poverty. Unfortunately, my concerns--and those of several of 
my colleagues and administration officials who quit their jobs in 
protest of welfare reform's passage in 1996-proved accurate.
  The emphasis on reducing welfare caseloads has caused welfare 
caseloads to drop faster than the poverty rate. From 1996-99, the 
number of people receiving welfare dropped 41 percent, while child 
poverty was reduced only 16.3 percent in the same period. As a result, 
almost one in six children (12 million) continue to live in poverty.
  Child poverty can have devastating impacts that last a lifetime. 
Studies show that poverty has harmful affects on children's cognitive 
ability and school performance and can contribute to early sexual 
activity and pregnancy, crime and incarceration, and unemployment.
  To encourage states to use funds to improve the well-being of our 
nation's children, this bill amends the Temporary Assistance for Needy 
Families (TANF) program by making reducing child poverty an explicit 
goal of the welfare law and creating a $150 million high performance 
bonus grant to states that reduce child poverty.
  To receive this new TANF high performance bonus, states would have to 
reduce their child poverty rate from the previous year's poverty rate. 
To ensure that states sustain their efforts to reduce child poverty, 
the high performance bonus is only awarded to states whose most recent 
child poverty rate does not exceed their lowest poverty rate since the 
beginning of this bonus program.
  I find it even more troubling that almost 5 million children live in 
extreme poverty in which their families' incomes are less than 50 
percent of poverty ($8,731.50 annually for a family of four, or just 
$728 a month). This bill attempts to help those especially needy 
children by only rewarding states that reduce poverty for children at 
all levels of need.
  Thus, the high performance bonus is only given to states that both 
reduce the overall poverty rate and prevent any increase the percentage 
of poor children living in extreme poverty.
  Children have no choice as to whether they are on welfare and I will 
continue to look for methods to protect them from the effects of TANF. 
While this legislation is not the overall solution to reducing child 
poverty, it is a clear step in the right direction.
  Reducing child poverty is one of the smartest policy initiatives that 
this Congress can embark on since children are our nation's future. I 
urge my colleagues to please join me in this small, but important, 
investment to reduce child poverty and improve child well being by 
enacting the Child Poverty Reduction Act.

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