[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 146 (Thursday, November 15, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H6376-H6377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
POVERTY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Lee) for 5 minutes.
Ms. LEE of California. As the founder of the Congressional Out of
Poverty Caucus, I rise today to continue talking about the ongoing
crisis of poverty in our country.
Yesterday, unfortunately, with the supplemental poverty report, we
learned that poverty continues to impact nearly 50 million Americans,
including 16 million children all across our country and in every
congressional district. My home State of California tops the list,
followed by our Nation's capital--the District of Columbia--Arizona,
Florida, and Georgia.
On this election day, low-income Americans, the working poor, middle-
income Americans--every American--spoke loudly and clearly. They voted
for strengthening the middle class and for putting people back to work,
and they voted for Congress to get back to doing the work of the
American people: to strengthen our economy for all Americans and to
create economic opportunities that will lift millions of families out
of poverty and into the middle class. Most importantly, the American
people voted to reject job-killing cuts and a tax on Medicare,
Medicaid, and Social Security.
What they don't want is for our country to be rushed into urgent
budget decisions by the false threat of a so-called ``fiscal cliff.''
Mr. Speaker, I don't buy it, and the American people don't believe it
either.
This economic and political gridlock is just another political cliff
created by the hostage-taking obstructionism of the Tea Party-
controlled Congress. The real cliff that anyone is facing today is a
human cliff, and far too many American families are standing on the
edge as I speak. If we don't strengthen our economy for all Americans,
millions will be cut off from the only lifeline keeping them from
falling off that human cliff and into poverty--unemployment
compensation. Far too many people will be cut off from vital programs
like employment insurance, the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income
Tax Credit if this Congress fails to act.
It is long past time to come together, to work to find a balanced
approach and, as Chairman Cleaver just said, to get past the partisan
obstructionism that has kept us from moving our economy and our country
forward. We have got to stop this. Just 10 years ago, in the year 2000,
our Nation had a balanced budget, projected surpluses, and a robust
economy. The passage of a serious tax cut rapidly ended those surpluses
and began to, quite frankly, explode the debt. The Bush-era tax cuts
have already cost over $2.2 trillion in Federal revenue since they were
enacted, and we cannot afford to allow them to be made permanent. Let's
not forget, Mr. Speaker, that this Congress has already voted to cut
$1.5 trillion in discretionary spending enacted through the 2011 Budget
Control Act.
Low-income Americans are already hurting from multiple rounds of cuts
to programs and benefits that they rely on. Our middle class and our
working poor have already done their part, and we cannot continue to
attempt to balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable
Americans--our poor, our seniors, our children, and our disabled.
So I hope all Members of Congress will follow the President's lead
and support his call for ending the Bush tax cuts above $250,000,
ending the billions in subsidies for Big Oil, and closing the countless
loopholes that allow huge corporations and the super rich to avoid
paying what they owe. In addition, we can find billions in additional
savings by making smart and targeted cuts to our defense budgets. Our
military leaders have already outlined cuts that will not put at risk
our brave men and women in harm's way or weaken the national security
of our Nation. We know that there are billions in waste, fraud, and
abuse in the defense budgets that can be saved if we can just account
for the hundreds of billions in spending by ensuring the Pentagon can
pass an audit.
{time} 1050
Mr. Speaker, we face many challenges, but we must not allow our
political crisis to create an economic crisis for millions of Americans
who are struggling. Now is not the time to turn our backs on struggling
families just to preserve tax giveaways to millionaires and
billionaires. We must come together to wage a war on poverty and end
the war on the poor.
Finally, as 350 economists have said, we need jobs first. With
recovery, deficit reduction will come by its own accord thanks to
increased revenues in an improving economy. They went on to say that
public outlay for jobs and recovery come first, growth is restored, and
revenues follow. Budget cuts only lead to a deeper slump.
Census: Fuller Poverty Picture Finds 49.7M Are Poor, Factoring in
Medical and Work Expenses
(By Associated Press, November 14, 2012)
Washington--The ranks of America's poor edged up last year
to a high of 49.7 million, based on a new census measure that
takes into account medical costs and work-related expenses.
The numbers released Wednesday by the Census Bureau are
part of a newly developed supplemental poverty measure.
Devised a year ago, this measure provides a fuller picture of
poverty that the government believes can be used to assess
safety-net programs by factoring in living expenses and
taxpayer-provided benefits that the official formula leaves
out.
Based on the revised formula, the number of poor people
exceeded the 49 million, or 16 percent of the population, who
were living below the poverty line in 2010. That came as more
people in the slowly improving economy picked up low-wage
jobs last year but still struggled to pay living expenses.
The revised poverty rate of 16.1 percent also is higher than
the record 46.2 million, or 15 percent, that the government's
official estimate reported in September.
Due to medical expenses, higher living costs and limited
immigrant access to government programs, people 65 or older,
Hispanics and urbanites were more likely to be struggling
economically under the alternative formula. Also spiking
higher in 2011 was poverty among full-time and part-time
workers.
As a result, the portrait of poverty broken down by state
notably changes. California tops the list, hurt by high
housing costs, large numbers of immigrants as well as less
generous tax credits and food stamp programs to buoy low-
income families. It is followed by the District of Columbia,
Arizona, Florida and Georgia.
In the official census tally, it was rural states that were
more likely to be near the top of the list, led by
Mississippi, New Mexico, Arizona and Louisiana.
``We're seeing a very slow recovery, with increases in
poverty among workers due to more new jobs which are low-
wage,'' said Timothy Smeeding, a University of Wisconsin-
Madison economist who specializes in poverty. ``As a whole,
the safety net is holding many people up, while California is
struggling more because it's relatively harder there to
qualify for food stamps and other benefits.''
Broken down by group, poverty was disproportionately
affecting people 65 and older--about 15.1 percent, or nearly
double the 8.7 percent rate calculated under the official
formula. That's because they have higher medical expenses,
such as Medicare premiums, deductibles and drug costs, that
aren't factored into the official rate.
While poverty rates for older Americans as a whole are
higher, the new measure does show improvement in their income
levels--about 15.1 percent were poor last year, down from
15.8 percent in 2010. Smeeding attributes that to a wave of
more affluent, still-working baby boomers in dual-income
households who are beginning to turn 65 and, as a result, are
slowly raising overall income levels for seniors.
Working-age adults ages 18-64 saw an increase in poverty
from 13.7 percent based on the official calculation to 15.5
percent, due mostly to commuting and child care costs.
In contrast, the new measure showed declines in poverty for
children, from 22.3 percent under the official formula to
18.1 percent. Still, they remained the age group most likely
to be economically struggling by any measure.
``These new numbers only reinforce what AARP and AARP
Foundation hear from real people every day: older Americans
are struggling to make ends meet,'' said Deb Whitman,
executive vice president of AARP, an advocacy group.
``Policymakers need to understand that not every senior is
well off and the critically important role Social Security or
Medicare plays as providing a safety net to keep even more
older Americans out of poverty. As Washington debates what
should happen during the lame duck, we cannot afford to
undermine the current safety net that allows many to live
with dignity.''
[[Page H6377]]
Hispanics and Asians also saw much higher rates of poverty,
28 percent and 16.9 percent, respectively, compared with
rates of 25.4 percent and 12.3 percent under the official
formula. Their poverty levels rose after the government took
into account safety-net programs such as food stamps and
housing, which have lower participation among immigrants and
non-English speakers.
In contrast, African-Americans saw a modest decrease in
poverty, from 27.8 percent under the official rate to 25.7
percent based on the revised numbers. Among non-Hispanic
whites, poverty rose from 9.9 percent to 11 percent.
Economists long have criticized the official poverty rate
as inadequate. Based on a half-century-old government
formula, the official rate continues to assume the average
family spends one-third of its income on food. Those costs
have actually shrunk to a much smaller share, more like one-
seventh.
The official formula also fails to account for other
expenses such as out-of-pocket medical care, child care and
commuting, and it does not consider noncash government aid,
such as food stamps and tax credits, when calculating income.
In reaction to some of the criticism, the government in
2010 asked the Census Bureau to develop a new measure, based
partly on recommendations made by the National Academy of
Sciences. It released national numbers based on that formula
for the first time last year. This year's release features a
50-state breakdown on poverty, prompted in part by local
officials such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg who
have argued that the official measure does not take into
account urban costs of living and that larger cities may get
less federal money as a result.
The goal is to help lawmakers to better gauge the
effectiveness of anti-poverty programs, although it does not
replace the Census Bureau's official poverty formula.
Among the findings:
--If it weren't for Social Security payments, the poverty
rate would rise to 54.1 percent for people 65 and older and
24.4 percent for all age groups.
--Without refundable tax credits such as the earned income
tax credit, child poverty would rise from 18.1 percent to
24.4 percent.
--Without food stamps, the overall poverty rate would
increase from 16.1 percent to 17.6 percent.
``These figures are timely given the looming expiration of
two key measures that account for part of these programs'
large antipoverty impact: federal emergency unemployment
insurance and improvements in refundable tax credits'' such
as the Earned Income Tax Credit, said Arloc Sherman, a senior
researcher at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a
liberal-leaning think-tank. ``Letting these measures expire
at year's end could push large numbers of families into
poverty.''
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