[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 53 (Friday, April 4, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E517]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ASSESSING THE BURDEN AFRICAN AMERICANS FACE IN A SLOWING ECONOMY--AND 
                 WHAT CONGRESS HAS DONE TO ALLEVIATE IT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 4, 2008

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to underscore the unfortunate 
financial squeeze many African American families will face as a result 
of the slumping economy. African American families and other families 
of color will suffer the most from a recession because they are 
disproportionately poor and do not have the safety net enjoyed by 
others. They carry a significant and disproportionate share of the 
burden, victim to an economic downturn that will harm working- and 
middle-class Americans most--unless we offer fresh and bold solutions 
to cultivate an economy that works for us all. Not just the wealthy. 
Not just the politically connected. But us all.
  The ``New Direction'' Congress has been swift in addressing this 
need. The stimulus package will provide much-needed tax relief to the 
tune of $600 per individual, $1,200 per married couple, and an 
additional $300 per child. But it doesn't stop there. It goes on to 
protect the least among us, committing $32 billion for those 35 million 
families who work tirelessly but do not earn enough to pay income taxes 
and guaranteeing rebates to seniors on Social Security, disabled 
veterans, and military widows. The package is estimated to create more 
than 500,000 jobs before the end of this year, of particular good news 
to African Americans, whose unemployment rate climbed from 8 percent in 
the fall to 9.2 percent just a few months afterwards.
  A second phase of increases in the minimum wage will take effect this 
July, not a moment too soon for those two million African Americans who 
benefit from the hike, and the 1.1 million more African Americans now 
living in poverty since President Bush took office. Our work on behalf 
of small businesses has strengthened the 1.2 million of them owned by 
African Americans, with revenues eclipsing $88 billion. That work has 
resulted in tax cuts for small business of $4 million over the next 10 
years, increasing their share of Federal contracts, and lowering their 
cost of financing. And in response to the subprime mortgage crisis--the 
result of bad lending practices that saddled African Americans and 
Hispanics two times as much as Whites with high-cost subprime loans--
we've passed legislation providing some mortgage debt tax relief, 
cracking down on predatory lending, and expanding affordable loan 
opportunities.
  As Americans endure the hardships of a sputtering economy, it is 
incumbent upon the people's Government to get us through it and steer 
us back to the path of prosperity. We have been responsive--and so 
shall we remain--to the needs of those communities most harshly hit in 
times of economic calamity, and as a unified people, looking after our 
own, we will get through this stronger and far more prosperous.

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