[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 144 (Wednesday, September 26, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1988]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       GLOBAL POVERTY ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 25, 2007

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague and good 
friend from Washington, Congressman Adam Smith, for this legislation 
and his commitment to ending poverty worldwide.
  The statistics are hard to believe: More than one billion people 
worldwide still struggle to survive on less than $1 per day, and 
another 1.6 billion eke out a living on less than $2 per day.
  So, close to three billion men, women, and children--or a population 
11 times the size of our own nation--awake each morning to little or no 
food, dirty water, inadequate shelter, and a lack of rudimentary health 
care. The entire international community should be ashamed at this 
massive failure.
  Alleviating crushing poverty around the globe is our most profound 
moral imperative. Our unending compassion as an American people and our 
position as the world's sole remaining superpower demand it.
  But more than just an appeal to our generosity should move us to pass 
this bill through the House of Representatives today: Reducing poverty 
around the world is in our national interest.
  Persistent poverty gnaws at the bodies of men and women, making them 
vulnerable to global infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, that demand 
our resources and threaten health around the globe.
  And the despair that inevitably accompanies stifling poverty also 
chews at the souls of the afflicted, making them vulnerable to 
ideologies of hate that foment violence around the world.
  For all these reasons, we must support this bill. This legislation 
makes it a central U.S. foreign policy goal to eliminate extreme 
poverty and to achieve the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, which 
this Administration has committed to time and again.
  Many observers have noted that the Millennium goals are ambitious. 
But the only way to even come close to achieving them is to remain 
committed--as a Congress and as a nation--to addressing poverty head-
on.
  This legislation requires the Administration to develop a 
comprehensive strategy to eliminate extreme global poverty. And it 
calls on the Administration--and future Administrations--to present to 
Congress the specific steps it has taken to develop and implement its 
strategy.
  The bill enumerates several methods that serve as a blueprint for the 
overall strategy: development policies, continued investment in key 
programs, debt relief, and coordination with international 
organizations.
  We could all glance at the statistics I mentioned earlier, shrug our 
shoulders, and shake our heads. But this Congress will not settle for 
apathy and indifference. We will use our generosity and our foreign 
policy to lift up the people in extreme poverty who deserve our 
immediate attention.
  I strongly urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this 
legislation.

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