[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 110 (Thursday, July 21, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H5292-H5293]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       POVERTY CRISIS IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LEE. I rise today as the founding cochair of the Congressional 
Out of Poverty Caucus to join my colleagues to discuss the urgent 
crisis of poverty and to provide a voice for those people living in 
poverty and who we feel that could get disproportionately hurt by any 
negotiations that take place that cut too deeply.
  I want to thank our leadership, especially our whip, Mr. Hoyer, for 
his powerful words this morning and for his leadership; Leader Pelosi 
and our Assistant Leader, Mr. Clyburn, for each and every day standing 
and working for the least of these.
  Mr. Speaker, a daunting statistic speaks for itself: One in 5 million 
children in America are growing up in poverty, and nearly 45 million 
Americans are living in poverty today. Our national unemployment rate 
is 9.2 percent, but for African Americans it is 16.2 percent and for 
Latinos it is 11.6 percent. And we know it's twice these statistics, 
given the millions of people who have lost hope in looking for jobs.
  Given these heart-wrenching statistics, the Congressional Out of 
Poverty Caucus, our cochairs--Representatives Baca, Butterfield, 
Conyers, Honda, and I--sent a letter to the President, the Vice 
President, and the congressional leadership on both sides of the aisle 
asking them to protect those programs that support those facing or 
living in poverty in the debt ceiling negotiations.
  My colleagues and I are here on the floor today to remind every 
Member that it was not American families or children or the working 
poor that forced Congress to run a deficit, and it definitely was not 
America's seniors on Social Security or Medicare or people on Medicaid 
that forced Republicans to turn the first budget surplus into decades 
of record deficits. Two wars, massive tax breaks for millionaires and 
billionaires, Big Oil, and Wall Street running wild caused these 
deficits. The American people are willing to work, they want to work 
and pay their fair share, but they should not be asked to fill a hole 
that they did not dig.
  We should quickly pass clean legislation to raise our debt ceiling to 
end this default crisis so that we can move on doing the critical work 
of creating jobs and responsibly addressing the national debt. Making 
heartless cuts on the backs of hungry children and struggling American 
families will not balance the budget. Every Member of Congress should 
consider the millions of Americans who are struggling--struggling to 
find work, struggling to pay for health care if they have health care, 
struggling to stay in their homes, and struggling to feed their 
children.
  Mr. Speaker, more and more Americans are facing poverty every day, 
and the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus is on the floor once again 
to be the voice for these Americans struggling day in and day out just 
to survive, demanding that we protect these vital safety net programs 
and help support the poor, especially in this Great Recession.
  We are here today to share some stories from people who have 
benefited from those programs. I have a story

[[Page H5293]]

from Veronica, who lives in northern California, who has turned her 
life around under these vital safety net programs. Her story is one of 
hardship and survival. It's a story of getting back up when life knocks 
you down. It's a story of America. She is the American Dream. But she 
and her spouse were teenage parents. They relied on public assistance 
to bring up their children. They were able to get good jobs and they 
got off of Federal assistance.
  Well, in 1995, the bottom fell out. Their son was diagnosed with 
diabetes. Her world imploded. She tried to go back to work full time. 
Her son needed more care at home. She was given child care assistance 
so she could support her family and her son. She was offered counseling 
and job training and, in the fall of 2009, the opportunity to work at 
Second Harvest Food Bank as an administrative assistant through the 
Federal stimulus program. She said she's still married to her husband. 
They have three beautiful children. And there's no way she could have 
kept her family together without the help of such programs such as SNAP 
food stamps, Medi-Cal, and job training. She said, ``We found unknown 
strength, faith, and resilience in our downfall. We'll do everything 
that we can do to stay self-sufficient but cannot say enough about the 
blessed safety net.''
  Mr. Speaker, we understand that even when you work hard and do things 
right, sometimes everyone needs a helping hand, especially when there 
are no jobs. I personally needed this helping hand in years past when I 
was forced during many hardships that I was faced with that I had to 
rely on for many years public assistance and food stamps and Medi-Cal 
just to get through school, to take care of my kids, to get a job. And 
if it weren't for that safety net, I would not be here today.
  And so let me just ask all of you to remember the poor, remember 
those struggling to survive, and to support those people who have 
exhausted their benefits, their unemployment benefits. They hit the 
wall in 99 weeks. We need to add more weeks of unemployment 
compensation for individuals who deserve this help. The 99ers need 
help. We need to do this. We need to do more to create jobs. We need to 
help people survive until we have the vision and the backbone to do 
that here.

                                     House of Representatives,

                                     Washington, DC, July 5, 2011.
     Hon. Barack Obama,
     President of the United States, The White House, Washington, 
         DC.
     Hon. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.,
     Vice President of the United States, The White House, 
         Washington, DC.
     Hon. Harry Reid,
     Senate Majority Leader, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Mitch McConnell,
     Senate Minority Leader, Washington, DC.
     Hon. John Boehner,
     Speaker of the House, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
     House Minority Leader, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President; Mr. Vice President; Speaker Boehner; 
     Minority Leader Pelosi; Majority Leader Reid; Minority Leader 
     McConnell: As you and your colleagues work to consider 
     solutions to our nation's fiscal challenges, we urge you to 
     ensure the protection of social service programs that serve 
     as a life line for our nation's low income and poor 
     communities who continue to feel the detrimental impact of 
     the economic downturn.
       As co-chairs of the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus 
     (COPC) working to eradicate poverty, it has always been our 
     goal to ensure critical programs protecting the impoverished 
     remain viable while also keeping poverty at the forefront of 
     debate and action here in Washington. Programs such as 
     Medicare and Medicaid, low-income housing benefits, and 
     earned income tax credit benefits must not be put in jeopardy 
     in the name of deficit reduction, which will only create a 
     greater cost burden to us in the future.
       Poverty has taken on an entirely new face as a result of 
     the financial crisis, the recession, and our nation's slow 
     economic recovery. The latest statistics estimate 14.3 
     percent or 43.6 million Americans living in poverty as of 
     2009, up from 39.8 million in 2008. Furthermore, the poverty 
     rate for Blacks is 25.8 percent, for Hispanics is 25.3 
     percent, and for children under age 18 is 20.7 percent. 
     According to the U.S. Census, ``the number of people in 
     poverty in 2009 (43.6 million) is the largest number in the 
     51 years for which poverty estimates have been published.'' 
     The recession has also left 13.9 million people unemployed, 
     thereby putting another population at risk of falling into 
     poverty.
       We simply cannot afford to balance the budget on the backs 
     of the poor. The COPC shares the concerns of an earlier 
     letter sent to you in late June 27, 2011 by a list of think 
     tank and nonprofit organizations advocating that deficit 
     reduction efforts do not result in an increase in poverty. 
     While we understand the need for fiscal responsibility, we 
     also recognize the need to invest in programs that protect 
     poor and vulnerable communities, especially in the face of 
     economic hardship. Therefore, staying committed to safety net 
     programs in health, education, housing, and employment is 
     both a moral and economic responsibility that we cannot 
     afford to ignore in the midst of deficit reduction efforts.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Barbara Lee,
                                                   Co-Chair, COPC.
                                                         Joe Baca,
                                                   Co-Chair, COPC.
                                                 G.K. Butterfield,
                                                   Co-Chair, COPC.
                                                     John Conyers,
                                                   Co-Chair, COPC.
                                                       Mike Honda,
     Co-Chair, COPC.
                                  ____


   Veronica's Story About SNAP, Medi-Cal and Job Training, California

                     (By Veronica of San Jose, CA)

       I am the American Dream!
       My name is Veronica, and I have such an immense gratitude 
     for federal programs such as SNAP/Food Stamps and Medi-Cal.* 
     I am ESPECIALLY grateful for the Federal Stimulus programs 
     that finally got my family off welfare.
       My spouse and I were teenage parents in 1990 and relied on 
     welfare to bring up our daughter until 1993, when we were 
     able to get good jobs and get off federal assistance.
       We had our son in 1995 and thought we would never need 
     welfare again. We were wrong. I cannot pinpoint an exact time 
     when we crumbled, because we cracked slowly. My husband's two 
     closest cousins were murdered and he began abusing drugs to 
     cope. I pretended it wasn't happening and kept working 
     harder.
       The bottom fell out when my son was diagnosed with Diabetes 
     (type 1) in 2001. My world imploded. I was on leave from work 
     through the Family and Medical Leave Act because both of my 
     parents had been diagnosed with diabetes earlier that year--
     and then my son. So I went back on welfare, because I could 
     not go back to work.
       Thank God I was given the opportunity to help myself and my 
     family through the assistance of different federal programs. 
     When I tried to go back to work full-time and my son needed 
     more care at home, I was given child care assistance so I 
     could support my family and help my son. I was offered 
     counseling, job training, and in the fall of 2009, the 
     opportunity to work at Second Harvest Food Bank as an 
     administrative assistant through the Federal Stimulus 
     program.
       I knew I was a hard worker but needed an opportunity to 
     show it. When the program ended I was offered employment 
     permanently at the food bank. I was one of 2010's Client 
     Success Stories for Santa Clara County.
       I am still married to my husband Ray. We have three 
     beautiful children, Danielle, Raymond Jr., and Albert. There 
     is NO WAY I could have kept my family together without the 
     help of the programs such as SNAP/food stamps, Medi-Cal, and 
     job training.
       I will not say I will never need federal assistance again, 
     but my husband and I know things happen for a reason. We 
     found unknown strength, faith, and resilience in our 
     downfall. We will do everything we can to stay self-
     sufficient, but cannot say enough about the blessed safety 
     net.

                          ____________________