[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 22 (Monday, February 5, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H767-H774]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                ECONOMIC JUSTICE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pittenger). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 3, 2017, the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Evans) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the 
minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
any extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I stand here representing the Congressional 
Black Caucus and our chairman, Cedric Richmond, who has initiated this 
particular Special Order for the Congressional Black Caucus to have 
this opportunity to speak to the issues specifically connected to the 
African-American community.
  As a result of the chairman's leadership, we have laid out an agenda 
that we think is very appropriate to lay out. We think it is important 
that all of our constituents, particularly all Americans, recognize 
that the Congressional Black Caucus has solutions.
  There is a document here that was put together under the leadership 
of Chairman Richmond. When the President stated sometime in August of 
2016: ``What do you have to lose?'' the chairman came up with the idea 
of a document that we would lay out, ``We Have a Lot to Lose: Solutions 
to Advance Black Families in the 21st Century.''
  Over this next year or so, we will be talking about solutions 
relating to African-American communities. We think that African-
American communities, like all Americans, should recognize that there 
are solutions to some of these challenges.
  With the President giving his speech last week on the state of the 
Union, the topic that we will talk about today is economic justice in 
the Black community. The topic, again, is economic justice in the Black 
community.
  First, I thank my wonderful colleagues for joining me here today to 
speak about economic justice in the Black community, an important topic 
to us all.
  The Black community has a lot to lose under the current 
administration. The racial wealth gap is widening. The GOP tax cut bill 
will not help, especially when the Speaker of the House tweets about a 
$1.50 increase and actually believes that this is a fair solution to 
our Nation's problems.
  Costco membership for the middle class and others in need, new yachts 
and Gulfstreams for millionaires and billionaires--that is just not 
right. We are in the business of doing no harm.
  To add to this, the President stands up and brags that the 
unemployment rate for Blacks is at the lowest, even while the 
unemployment rate for Black Americans actually went up a whole percent 
last month according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We did not hear 
from the President on that.
  You can't take credit for the good, but not accept the bad. It is all 
about accountability and credibility, Mr. Speaker. There is nothing to 
brag about.
  To gain wealth comparison to White high school dropouts, Black people 
have to complete high school and some college, which is a very sad 
fact. This means that Black Americans need to invest more resources and 
time to achieve the same resources as White citizens, to make the same 
level of investments.
  Generally, the typical Black American has little room for error. The 
demands placed on Black families to generate income while navigating 
the

[[Page H768]]

problems that always arise are numbing.
  Black Americans have levels of net worth that are one-tenth the net 
worth of White Americans.
  Black Americans have only 8 percent of their wealth in businesses. 
Research shows that Black entrepreneurs have higher wealth levels and 
higher levels of wealth mobility than the Black nonentrepreneur. The 
lack of wealth makes it harder to start and maintain a business.
  According to data from various reports, including the Census Bureau, 
the Federal Reserve's survey of small businesses, and the Kauffman 
Foundation, Black-owned businesses are more reliant on their own 
investment in their businesses because access to capital from external 
sources is too difficult to obtain.
  To give you some context of what is at stake in our neighborhoods 
nationwide, I represent a district with a poverty rate of 26 percent. 
That means 196,000 people in my district are at the poverty level.
  We know that one of the best solutions to addressing poverty is 
quality of jobs.
  Let me repeat that, Mr. Speaker. We know that one of the best 
solutions to addressing poverty is the quality of jobs.
  The President and his administration talk a big game about creating 
jobs and lowering unemployment, but we all know too well that this is 
not the reality in our neighborhoods nationwide. A 2015 CFPB report 
found that 15 percent of Black Americans are credit invisible, meaning 
that they have no or limited credit.
  Black Americans have higher levels of student debt, on average. Forty 
percent of Black Americans between 25 and 55 hold student loan debt. 
Black Americans have higher levels of those debt loads, holding an 
average of $43,725.
  Let me repeat that. They have an average of $43,725 in student debt, 
compared to an average of $31,367 for Whites.
  Our Historically Black Colleges and Universities must be capable of 
delivering a world-class education and continuing to attract top-notch 
students.
  Let's talk about the solutions to economic injustice. Let's talk 
about the solutions.
  In this document, we talk about the solutions. For example, don't cut 
taxes for the superrich while others are struggling to make ends meet. 
Adopt a fair Tax Code that doesn't pick winners or losers.
  Work to implement the Congressional Black Caucus 10-20-30 formula all 
across all agencies. This bold and innovative idea would require 
Federal agencies to commit 10 percent of their budget to the 485 
counties where 20 percent or more of the population have been living 
below poverty lines for 30 years.

  We should also address food insecurity by providing access to 
healthy, affordable food. Mr. Speaker, more than 30 million Americans 
live more than a mile from the nearest grocery store.
  Let's be clear: our food policy is our foreign policy. Our food 
policy is our foreign policy. When America helps with food and 
development aid around the world, it sends a signal that we are leaders 
in the global campaign to help end hunger.
  In addition, as a member of the Small Business Committee and the 
ranking member of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital 
Access, it is critical that we support and expand small business and 
entrepreneurship opportunities.
  One of the things the President can do is increase the budget of the 
Minority Business Development Agency instead of slashing its budget, as 
it did last year. That is one of the solutions that we have in this 
document.
  We can also increase the Small Business Administration's budget, 
while ensuring the Small Business Development Centers are capable of 
providing assistance expanding the SBA 7(a) Microloan program, which 
would give small businesses $50,000 to start or grow their firms, a 
capital fusion that can help individuals who have ideas and a dream but 
no cash.
  Mr. Speaker, every day, graduates of our fine universities in 
Pennsylvania go to work but still find themselves behind or just 
keeping up with their student loans. This is an opportunity to show 
support for entrepreneurs by forgiving part of the student loan debt in 
terms of entrepreneurs.
  The President should also make new markets tax credits permanent. He 
should also condition the fintech charters of compliance with truth in 
lending and equal credit access, using a template similar to that in 
the Community Reinvestment Act.
  He should set up the 21st Century Technology Fund and reauthorize the 
improvement of the Community Development Block Grant program.
  Mr. Speaker, the chairman, whom I will later introduce, presented 
this document to the President, along with the executive branch.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), 
someone whom I have known for an awful long time. He knows a lot about 
economic development. I know that he has led the effort on business 
development.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, let me first thank the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans) for hosting tonight's Special Order. I am glad 
to see that his celebrating allowed them to get here on time, since his 
team was victorious yesterday in the Super Bowl.

                              {time}  1945

  Let's see. For 84 percent of the American voters, the economy is the 
number one issue to care about. Tonight's Special Order is made even 
more important after the huge drop in the stock market today. But, of 
course, the stock market is not the only measure of a healthy economy 
or economics of our community.
  Building wealth matters. Wealth is what families accumulate and pass 
down generation after generation. It is the house you pay for and give 
to your children so they can grow their families without paying rent.
  It is the retirement fund you live off of and pass on to your 
children so they can pay for their own children's college education. By 
building wealth, we are building a safety net that allows us to start a 
business or survive if we lose our jobs. Yes, building wealth matters, 
but the Black community has been shut out from building its wealth.
  More than 25 percent of the Black community has zero net worth or has 
a negative net worth, and the median Black family is worth 12 times 
less than the median White family.
  Why is that?
  One reason for the vast majority of households in the United States, 
two-thirds of the family's wealth is tied up in the value of their 
home. That means the racial gap in wealth is mostly a racial gap in 
housing, and the housing wealth gap is not by chance.
  For decades, Federal law and policy favored Whites and discriminated 
against Blacks. For decades, private banks discouraged lending to Black 
people, and for decades, restrictive covenants outright prevented Black 
people from owning homes in certain areas of town.
  There are young people today struggling to rent apartments in major 
cities because, in 1950, their grandfather was denied a loan by a bank 
because of his race. The young people of color are, in essence, forced 
to play catchup with their White colleagues.
  To build wealth in Black communities, we need to work towards ending 
the racial unemployment gap. As the President has repeatedly 
proclaimed, Black unemployment has been dropping for the past 8 years, 
reaching a historic low this year, but that statistic doesn't tell the 
whole story.
  While unemployment has gone down, the gap between Black and White pay 
has not been going down. Black men only earn 70 cents an hour for every 
dollar a White individual makes. As long as that remains true, our 
communities will continue to struggle economically.
  To close the economic gap, it requires us to close the wage gap. 
Workers everywhere need to be free to bargain collectively. We need to 
make unions and their workers stronger, not weaker. We need to raise 
the minimum wage for both tipped and untipped workers. We need to 
strengthen the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
  These basic steps will help generate Black wealth by closing the wage 
gap. Those are a few of the short-term solutions to closing the wealth 
gap and the wage gap among people who are in the workforce today. But 
we need a long-

[[Page H769]]

term plan. We need to increase the participation and the success of 
Black, Latino, and female students in careers that rely on science, 
technology, engineering, and math.
  Fewer than half of all high schools in the United States offer 
calculus. Many high schools across the country don't even offer physics 
or chemistry. And the students who don't have access to senior-level 
science or math classes are disproportionately students of color or 
low-income students. This is a national disgrace.
  This disparity continues through college, where only 4 percent of 
engineering majors are Black or African American, and only 8 percent 
are Hispanic or Latino.
  Look, the world around us is undergoing rapid change and will 
continue to evolve, and there is a growing gap between jobs that are in 
high demand and the people who have the skills to fill them. Over the 
next 10 years, 80 percent of careers will require a deep understanding 
of STEM skills, but our young women, Black youth, and people of color 
are being left behind. They are among the least likely to pursue 
studies in the most in-demand STEM fields, despite the fact that they 
are among the fastest growing demographics in the country.
  It is our duty to create an educational system that encourages young 
people, whatever their backgrounds, to dream big, to achieve big. Only 
then will we be positioned to create a future in which technology 
reflects the strength of America's diverse communities.
  I would just like to say we are here tonight to discuss this matter 
that has plagued our community for decades, as I stated, but it is time 
for us to level the playing field once and for all, for all families to 
be able to benefit from what this country has to offer, the great 
American Dream.
  It is a dream for everyone, and we are bent on making sure that all 
communities have an opportunity to benefit from this great Nation's 
wealth.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I would continue to yield to the gentleman 
for an answer to a question.
  I am going to--since he is from the great State of New Jersey--say 
that I heard the President in his State of the Union address last week. 
And this topic is about economic justice in the Black community, and I 
think Mr. Payne did an excellent job in laying out very specifically on 
the issue about the need for increase of the minimum wage.
  I yield to Mr. Payne so he can speak to that a little bit and talk 
about how he thinks that would provide economic justice, particularly 
in the Black community. I was, as a matter of fact, sitting right next 
to Mr. Payne. I don't think I heard the President speak anything about 
the minimum wage.
  Did I miss something?
  I just want to know if I missed something that he was speaking on.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, if Mr. Evans missed it, I missed it because I 
don't believe the President mentioned it at all.
  Look, I mean, people who are struggling in this country making $7 an 
hour, $8 an hour, $9 an hour, $10 an hour, it does not meet their 
essential needs. It is not enough money to live in this Nation, to have 
decent housing.

  Sure, you can make $7 or $8 an hour, but what are you going to be 
able to afford as a home?
  Sure, you can make $7 or $8 an hour, but what does your children's 
future look like in terms of saving money for education?
  You are using everything primarily to feed and to clothe them.
  It has been discussed over the past 5 to 6 years that a minimum of 
$15 is needed for people to survive in this country. So we need to get 
up off of this high horse that my colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle said: Well, just pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
  Those days are over. And we were never given the bootstraps to hold 
onto. There is always, always something in our way.
  Anytime an African-American family finds themselves in a position to 
move forward, the goalpost is moved and it is further away, the rules 
are changed. Every time we get to a point where there might be 
equality, somehow there are different issues which don't allow you to 
move forward as your counterparts in the majority population. It is 
wrong and it needs to stop. We need to continue to bring light to it as 
a Congressional Black Caucus.
  It is our duty, as the voice of people in this country of color, to 
make sure we know that this travesty is going on, we understand it, we 
see it, we are not going to tolerate it anymore, and we are going to 
have to fix it. That is the way I feel.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate Mr. Payne's comments 
because what I am hearing Mr. Payne say is we should give people a 
raise.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to Mr. Payne for any additional comments he 
would like to make.
  Mr. PAYNE. They have to. It is the only way for people in this 
country to make it.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Payne very much for his comments.
  Someone who is from a great State that has done--was a mayor in a 
State that manufactured and did a huge opportunity in creating wealth, 
I couldn't think of a better person to speak about this subject: 
economic justice in the Black community. She knows a lot about this 
issue. She has been hands-on about it. She has been in the forefront. 
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the congresswoman from Michigan (Mrs. 
Lawrence), a great colleague from the 14th Congressional District.
  Mrs. LAWRENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Evans for his strong 
representation of his constituents of the Second District of 
Pennsylvania and his leadership and support of civil rights.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address racial inequality with America's 
wealth gap. As we continue to celebrate Black History Month, we 
remember victories such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. We can look back 
and celebrate these victories that brought us closer to the American 
principle of liberty and justice for all.
  But the fight for equality, fairness, and justice continues. I am 
proud to stand with my colleagues of the Congressional Black Caucus to 
call for true economic justice for the Black community. Still, today, 
Mr. Speaker, in 2018, Black people in America have to earn a high 
school education, a high school diploma, and complete some time in 
college to catch up to the wage of White high school dropouts.
  The Black-White wage gap is larger today than it was in 1979. This 
tragic truth does not affect Black men and women the same. Since the 
year 2000, young Black women have been hit the hardest. However, the 
racial wealth gap is even greater. The average wealth for White 
families is seven times higher than the average wealth for Black 
families.
  Mr. Speaker, with facts like this, no wonder many find it difficult 
to stand and applaud President Trump's belief that there is a trend of 
lower Black unemployment rates. Lower unemployment rates does not 
address this imbalance of wealth and opportunity, and backward policies 
do not deserve our cheers.
  When we have an administration that puts forth policies that would 
eliminate programs to support minority businesses, drain the Black 
labor pool by doubling down on the war on drugs and mass incarceration, 
put forth a tax plan that gives billions to corporations and the 
wealthiest while leaving crumbs for the hardworking middle class, Mr. 
Speaker, this does not deserve our applause. Certainly, under this 
administration, African Americans and minorities have a lot to lose.

                              {time}  2000

  We heard that often during the campaign: ``What do you have to 
lose?''
  Today, this administration is surprised we are not standing and 
applauding.
  A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The strength of 
America is at its best when we are all strong.
  Mr. Speaker, that is why this fight from the Black Caucus--we are 
raising our voices--this isn't just about Black America; this is about 
America. We are a country that the stronger each and every one of us 
is--regardless of our race, our religion, or where we came from--if we 
are in America and we are Americans, if we are all strong, the United 
States of America is strong.
  Equality is smart economics, and justice for all is our American way.

[[Page H770]]

Today, we stand and call on this administration and this Congress to 
fight to make America strong, to make America the best it can be. We 
call for equality and we call for economic justice for all.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to do a colloquy with my 
colleague on something that really got my attention; what she said 
about that chain. I would like her to talk about that chain, what that 
means in real life and what it means when it is not functioning.
  What happens when that chain is not strong?
  Mrs. LAWRENCE. Mr. Speaker, let me use the example of mass 
incarceration.
  In my State and in this budget in Congress, we are constantly cutting 
programs for education. In America, if you do not educate a child, 
their choices are very limited. Statistics have shown that the lower 
the education, the higher the rate of incarceration.
  I will share with the gentleman that if we truly want to reduce the 
cost of mass incarceration, if we truly want a workforce that is 
trained and available to address economic opportunities and invest in 
technology, and ensure that we are paying taxes and growing our tax 
base, it will be more efficient to invest in education.
  But, instead, we systematically, with budgets and cutting funds, 
empower the prison system, while at the same time create a disadvantage 
for people who then become what we so often hear: a burden to society, 
social welfare, and all these other things.
  When you create the opportunity to provide leadership to say, ``We, 
in America, understand an educated American is an economic advantage,'' 
and we have systematically ignored that--we sit here as if every child 
in America is getting equal education--it is not a reality. It should 
be an outcry from every CEO in America. All of these corporations are 
getting billions of dollars in tax cuts.
  Instead of saying, ``Oh, do you know what, we are going to open up a 
new factory,'' or ``We are going to do this,'' they should say that in 
conjunction with, ``We are going to make sure that every child who is 
our customer, every community will be able to improve the educational 
system.'' Because the larger our work base, the more powerful our 
corporation and our economy becomes.
  Why do you think these corporations go overseas and say they have to 
go to other countries to get workers?
  And, excuse me, you don't see the reality slapping you in the face 
when you have these children who are not educated, and you have school 
systems that don't have adequate books and technology to allow this 
child to reach their highest potential?
  That is a weak link.
  And this America that says that we are one of the best economies in 
the world, we are being attacked every day because our workforce is 
diminishing because we are not providing education that is competitive 
with other countries.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I think the gentlewoman may have heard our 
colleague from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) talk a little bit about the 
minimum wage and raising the minimum wage.
  How would she see that aspect of raising the minimum wage being a 
part of strengthening that chain?
  Mrs. LAWRENCE. Mr. Speaker, when you have what we call the working 
poor--they are going to work every day--think about a mother who is 
raising a family. She is not asking for a handout. She is actually 
going to work every day. Some of them are working two jobs and still 
cannot provide the basics of food, shelter, and clothing for their 
children. And then when she says, ``I need help,'' they say, ``Oh, 
these handouts, this social welfare these people are asking for,'' when 
these are people who are working every day to achieve the American 
Dream, not to have luxuries, but to have the basics, the minimum wage 
is a beginning. But you tie that to education. We must address that.
  Many of these individuals, who have never committed a crime--they are 
not criminals, they are not bad people--they did not get the education 
that prepared them, and now they are working, they are trying, they are 
pursuing the dream of: ``If I work hard every day, if I do the work and 
show up and be a good employee, I will be able to provide for my 
family.'' That is not a reality. In America, we should be ashamed of 
ourselves to have people working and still considered poor in America.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her comments. I 
greatly appreciate it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Richmond), 
the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, who is really not a 
stranger to this topic of economic justice in the Black community. He 
has been leading this caucus for the last year and he has been very 
consistent about the need to address economic justice. He understands, 
from his perspective, from the caucus perspective, the importance that 
the best poverty buster is economic justice.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania for 
yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, let me take a moment to congratulate the city of 
Philadelphia, the great people of Pennsylvania, on winning the Super 
Bowl last night. And I will just say, as we talk about economic 
justice, one of the reasons why Philadelphia or the Eagles were able to 
win the Super Bowl was not just because of their outstanding player 
Malcolm Jenkins, which they all got from the New Orleans Saints, but 
part of the reason why is because the rules are the same for everybody. 
When the rules are the same for everybody, then you get rewarded for 
your hard work, your dedication, your sacrifice, and all of those 
things. Last night was the reward of the Eagles' hard work, dedication, 
and sacrifice.

  The problem with what we face in this country is that the rules are 
not the same for everybody, which is why it takes an African American 
to have a high school diploma and some college education to earn what a 
White dropout makes. And, look, it is what it is. It is the rules we 
find ourselves. But in a great nation such as this, you correct it so 
that the playing field is even and that the rules are the same.
  Some people are born on third base. They hit a single and think they 
hit a home run and earned all of their success. So often in minority 
communities, we go to the plate already with two strikes, and we are 
expected to hit that same home run or that same single.
  Well, this morning, as I prepared to say good-bye to my 3-year-old--
little Cedric--and drop him off at daycare and go to the airport so 
that I could fly up here and do the people's work, I noticed that the 
CBC was getting criticized for not standing when the President said 
that African-American unemployment was at an all-time low. I am grown. 
I accept what I do. To my colleague from Pennsylvania: No, I didn't 
stand.
  But for anyone who is listening--and I hope that the White House is--
why don't you just call me and ask me why I didn't stand?
  Because I will tell you, and I don't care if it hurts some feelings, 
ruffles some feathers, or send people in a little tizzy.
  I didn't stand because we haven't done enough. I didn't stand because 
Black unemployment has been going down since 2011 at a steady rate. The 
decline this past year is less than the decline in other years.
  But if I stood and applauded, it would make someone think that I was 
happy. It would make someone think that he was doing a good job.
  I also didn't stand because I just didn't believe the words that I 
was hearing.
  I also didn't stand because I could hear the words of my grandmother 
in the back of my head saying: ``Baby, he means you no good.''
  But part of the other reasons why I didn't stand was because, in a 
country as great as this, I was sitting there that night--and I am a 
Southern boy--and I was thinking about how cold it was outside while we 
were in here listening to the State of the Union; and when the weather 
gets really cold and it is snowing or it is raining and cold, I try to 
bundle up so I can hurry up and get in my car, and then hurry up and 
get in the office, and then hurry up and get in the house so that I 
don't have to be exposed to the elements long.
  Do you know what I realized?
  That there are people in this great country who go to bed and wake up

[[Page H771]]

outside. We can't consider ourselves a great nation if that is true.
  The other thing I realized is that there are mothers who go to work 
every day and they bust their tails to provide for their kids, and at 
the end of the week, they still don't have enough to make ends meet. 
But she is working for a corporation whose profits are at an all-time 
high, while her wages are at an all-time low. She is making the 
corporation a profit, but she can't pay for the basic needs for her 
family. You can't be a great country when that happens.
  So what does she do?
  Not to mention that she has to work two jobs to earn what a White 
male makes. So she is working two jobs to make what a White male makes. 
Then we criticize her for not educating her children. Well, she can't 
help with homework. She is working her second job.
  But in this country, we have to be better than that. So to stand and 
give a State of the Union and just look at the unemployment rate really 
means you are looking at it like a 3-year-old.
  Part of our job as the CBC--the Congressional Black Caucus--is to 
educate, which is why we did prepare this document.
  And, look, White House, if it is too long, if it is too complicated, 
if the words are too big, call me. I will send you the cliff notes 
version. Lord knows I used them once or twice in school.
  But I will tell you: If you want to know our solutions, it is on page 
17. If you want to hear us talk about economic justice and how to 
improve the economy, it is on page 31. If you want to know how to 
improve education and the workforce and healthcare, those are pages 40, 
43, and 49.
  If you want to talk about rural America--because, as the CBC, I want 
to make this crystal clear to the country: Yes, we are the 
Congressional Black Caucus, but we work for the entire country. So when 
we start talking about solutions, we are talking about solutions for 
rural America, like investing in infrastructure, broadband, and all 
those things, so rural people, both Black or White or any other race, 
can succeed.
  But what most of the country doesn't know is, yes, we have 48 members 
of the Congressional Black Caucus; we represent 78 million people, but 
only 17 million of those are African Americans. So we fight for the 
entire country. So when we marched in the civil rights movement, and 
when the CBC fought for a civil rights bill, and a voting rights bill, 
they weren't just fighting for African Americans. First of all, they 
were fighting to redeem this country's soul because it was so lost. We 
find ourselves at a similar place in history where we are fighting to 
redeem this country. We are here to help you save you from yourself 
because in this country, with the wealth that we have, we should not 
have the poverty.

                              {time}  2015

  I want to be clear about another thing. I applaud the fact that 
people make a lot of money. Look, I think it is absolutely phenomenal.
  There is a guy in California right now building a 100,000-square-foot 
house for $500 million. God bless him, and God bless this country that 
he is able to make that much money.
  But you can't tell me that, in the same country where he is able to 
do that, we can't take care of a hungry 3-year-old or a hungry 4-year-
old or help that mother who is working two jobs to make ends meet. And 
because she is getting subsidized rent, we have the nerve to call her 
lazy?
  No one in this body works two jobs. First of all, we are prohibited. 
But we don't work two jobs, and there are too many families all across 
this country where people are working two and three jobs.
  You hear me talk about civil rights often, and you hear me talk about 
Dr. King often--not only because he was one of the greatest leaders 
ever in this country; not only because he went to Morehouse College, 
the greatest institution in this country; but because his words had 
meaning and, more importantly, his actions and his deeds were those 
that changed this country.
  So let's think, as April 4 we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of 
his assassination in Memphis at the Lorraine Motel. What people don't 
realize about Dr. King, he was down there fighting for sanitation 
workers. He was fighting for people who woke up every day, got on the 
back of a truck. We call them ``hoppers.'' They would hop on and hop 
off the truck, put your trash in it, worked very hard, but they didn't 
work with decent wages, decent work conditions, or anything else.
  He was down there not fighting for chronic voters, not pandering to a 
base, not trying to appeal to what is popular; he was down there 
fighting for garbage men and garbage women so that they could work with 
dignity and respect. That is what the CBC embodies.
  So I am so glad that tonight the gentleman is leading this Special 
Order Hour on economic justice. I know I went all over the place, but I 
want people to understand.
  First of all, I am not apologetic for not standing. Make me. Make me 
stand. And I am not talking about in a physical sense. That is too 
easy. All these sergeant-at-arms around here and all the security that 
the President has, yeah, they can make me stand, but make me want to 
stand.
  See, that is what makes this country great. Anybody, any little 
infant in this country can criticize. There are a whole bunch of people 
who criticize. Oh, they won't stand for the Pledge of Allegiance or the 
Star-Spangled Banner. What makes this country great is that they don't 
have to if they want to protest.
  But this country is so great, we should make people want to stand. We 
should make those players feel not that they are sons of Bs, but that 
they are contributing members of society and that we cherish every 
community; that we are going to actually talk about police misconduct, 
not just from the White House where we get--you are in the White House. 
You get to beat up on the FBI, the CIA. You get to beat up on all law 
enforcement, and nobody says a word. But if one little football player 
says that police relations in my community are so bad that, no, I am 
not going to talk about the FBI publicly, I am not going to criticize 
them, I am just going to, in a very reverent way, take a knee to show 
that I am not happy with police community relations in my community, 
all of a sudden they are despicable people. But you can stand and sit 
in the White House and tweet about the FBI, CIA, and everyone else, and 
all of a sudden it is acceptable.
  So, look, the rules should be the same for everybody. The solutions 
we have in this book, like investing in the minority business 
development agencies, those would make a real difference in the lives 
of African Americans achieving better. But what did this budget do? 
Propose to cut them out completely.
  So we just have to be very cognizant of where we are, what we are 
doing, and know that you have to have a plan. Economic injustice will 
not cure itself because it wasn't created overnight.
  I know I am probably way over the heads of all the people in the 
White House, but we learn in physics that, if a ball is rolling 
downhill, the only way you stop it from rolling downhill is to apply 
equal or greater force in the opposite direction.
  So if we know that discrimination and racism and injustice has been 
involved in our economic system since the slaves built this hallowed 
building, then we know that that discrimination and that inequality has 
been rolling down the hill for centuries. So if it has been rolling 
down the hill for centuries, then we need an equal or greater force to 
meet it.
  That is what this document is. It is saying, ``Mr. President, 
implement these policies.'' That will be the equal or greater force to 
meet that. All of a sudden, we have an equal playing field and we have 
a chance to make this a more perfect Union, what we all strive for, so 
that little Black boys and little Black girls can be judged by their 
character, not by the color of their skin. That is what we strive for. 
Too often, too many politicians forget it because they are pandering to 
chronic voters and to a base.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania, from 
Philadelphia, who has on his green tie celebrating his Super Bowl 
victory.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up on something that the 
gentleman said that sort of registers.
  He says this April it will be 50 years since Dr. King's 
assassination. I am interested in the gentleman's perspective

[[Page H772]]

as he looks at that 50 years. And the gentleman and I both have this 
honor of sitting in this great House and what it means.
  But that economic justice aspect, as the gentleman looks back and 
thinks about--and I am glad he brought up the issue about fighting for 
the sanitation workers and what Dr. King was doing. So if the gentleman 
is looking back and looking where we are today, speak to a little bit 
of where he thinks we are, because just last Tuesday we sat in this 
House and we heard the President give the State of the Union.

  The gentleman heard what the President said in his State of the 
Union, and we know about Dr. King, that issue about economic justice in 
the Black community. If the gentleman had to measure it, where are we?
  I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I tell the gentleman from Pennsylvania, 
how you describe the state of our Union depends on what ZIP Code you 
live in in this country these days. There are ZIP Codes where the state 
of our Union is great, where people are overjoyed that the stock market 
was over 25,000, that they are bustling because of the economic 
recovery that was started under President Obama. They are doing very 
well, and they did very well as we ended the Great Recession.
  But there are too many people in other ZIP Codes who still find 
themselves without raises in the last 10 years, but the cost of gas, 
the cost of milk, the cost of electricity, all those costs are going 
up. All of your expenses are going up, but your salary is staying the 
same. That does not make for a balanced balance sheet. That makes for a 
deficit, which is why we talked about and challenged the tax cut that 
we just did.
  We just spent $1.4 trillion. Bernie Sanders' free college plan was 
only $800 billion. We could have done his free college plan and still 
had $600 billion left over to do infrastructure or something else, 
because the best way out of poverty and the best way to do these things 
is through investing in education.
  So the state of our Union is divided, is fractured; for vulnerable 
people, it is scary. They are anxious. For too many people, they are 
angry.
  We have pitched this whole idea in this country that if you are poor 
and you are White, the only reason you are poor is because minorities 
keep cutting the line and keep taking what should be yours. And to 
perpetuate that doesn't help poor White people or poor Black people 
because, at the end of the day, they are both poor, and we need to 
realize that that is not what this country is about, and we need to 
uplift both.
  That is why I would say the state of our Union is in paralysis, and 
we are paralyzed in a broke state. But it is our job, the Members of 
this House, all 435, to figure out ways to come together to fix it. We 
know we have very specific ideas. We know that they have very specific 
ideas. They won the majority, and elections have consequences.
  But if you want to talk to me in good faith about finding a solution, 
then be open to hearing what you don't want to hear. I am open to not 
getting everything I want because I know that we didn't win the House.
  But this institution has to be better than that. I hope we can come 
together at some point and realize that spending money on American 
families is actually an investment that gives you a return, and it is 
not just wasteful spending.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Smucker). The gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans) has 8 minutes remaining.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, if I could ask the gentleman another 
question, because this issue of economic justice in the Black community 
is what I view as probably the issue, because we heard our colleagues 
from Michigan and New Jersey talk about that gap that exists.
  There is somebody out there listening to you or listening to us 
tonight, and if you turn around and you are speaking to them, what 
sense of hope can you give to them that you see some way of addressing 
this economic justice? Is there something specifically that you can say 
to them that gives a little sense of optimism about that growing gap?
  I mean, I ride in cabs and all, and they wonder if there is a 
fundamental difference.
  So I ask the gentleman, as the leader of the Congressional Black 
Caucus, all 48, 49 of us, as you think about it and you have been here, 
what can you say to them about this economic justice issue that we have 
today?
  I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Well, first of all, I think they should take some 
comfort and glean some hope from the fact that we are sitting here in 
the House of Representatives talking about economic justice on this 
Monday night because we are concerned about it and because we are 
offering solutions to it.
  Hopefully, some in the majority, maybe in the House, maybe in the 
Senate, maybe in the White House, will extend a hand to say we are 
interested in hearing your ideas; we will read your proposals; let's 
see if we can find some middle ground.
  This is not just about African Americans. This is about American 
people. There are too many people in this country who are busting their 
tails but can't make ends meet, and that, we have to take as a reality.

  Corporations, the profits are at an all-time high; wages are at an 
all-time low. We ought to have a better balance than that. I think that 
they should take comfort in the fact that we are dedicated to working 
on it, and I think that there is some sense of corporate responsibility 
that will also level the playing field.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentleman that I really have 
enjoyed this topic. I guess it is a topic that, like in his district 
and my district, it always comes down to about the Benjamins and always 
comes down to what exactly--I liked his analysis about the rules, that 
he started out relating to football games or whatever sport it is, 
there are some rules.
  I do think some people really wonder, from an economic justice 
standpoint, how they fit into this particular situation. I guess the 
point is does the gentleman have any sense that you think--and you 
visit with the President--to your knowledge, that: ``You have got a 
fine document; I strongly support it, the solutions that are 
addressed.'' Does the gentleman sense from either him or his 
administration that they are going to take up anything that you see 
there in terms of discussion?
  I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Not yet. Not yet is the short answer.
  Let me say this, Representative Evans, as I close. You mentioned that 
where we are from it is all about the Benjamins, which means the Ben 
Franklins, the money dedicated to the resources.
  Far too often--and I challenge a lot of the norms and customs and 
sayings in our community that I think are harmful. One of the sayings 
we used to hear a lot was, ``if it doesn't make dollars, it doesn't 
makes sense,'' which means that, if it makes money, it makes sense.

                              {time}  2030

  But the true saying should be: if it only makes dollars, then it 
doesn't make sense.
  There has to be something else to it besides just corporations making 
as much as they possibly can. There still has to be some sort of 
community obligation that goes along with it to make the communities 
you are in a little bit better, whether it is the schools; whether it 
is the housing; whether it is the streets, the roads, the bridges, all 
of those things.
  So when you start talking about our infrastructure, the question 
becomes: Are corporations paying their fair share? They benefit from 
our labor, they benefit from our consumers, they benefit from a whole 
bunch of things. But if it is only about the dollars for them, then 
this country has lost its soul, which is why we are having this 
conversation, because we have to save it from itself.
  And it is not the first time this country has lost its soul. During 
slavery, during Jim Crow, during segregation, there were many people 
who woke up every day, went to church, prayed to the Lord, and then at 
the end of the day went right back to perpetuate Jim

[[Page H773]]

Crow, segregation, slavery, racism, and all of those things. But it 
takes brave people to stand up and call it for what it is.
  If you don't diagnosis the problem, you will never find a cure for 
it. So even in this House, we have people who claim to be the Christian 
right or the religious right who will say and espouse very hateful and 
racist things, all in the guise of religion.
  But it is our duty as the CBC, and me as the chair, to remind people, 
one, that we are better than that, and, two, we have done an awful lot 
of despicable things in this country and blamed it on religion or 
blamed it on the Lord and don't blame religion or the Lord for wicked 
men. It is our obligation to make sure that we call it when we see it 
and we continue to fight for the least of these. Because the least of 
these can't afford lobbyists. They can't run commercials on TV 
congratulating people. They can't run commercials on TV opposing 
candidates. All they can do is continue to bust their tails every day 
to try to put a roof over their head, food on their table, and all of 
those things.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his knowledge and 
his information, and I hope that it has been very helpful on this 
subject of economic justice in the Black community.
  Mr. Speaker, in terms of the Congressional Black Caucus Special 
Order, I want to yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, during his State of 
the Union address, President Trump was quick to tout how the 
unemployment rate among black Americans dropped to 6.8 percent in 
December 2017--the lowest level ever recorded since the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics first began tracking unemployment numbers by race in 1972. 
However, President Trump's rosy narrative ignores a host of other facts 
that paint a very different picture for members of the black community 
under the new administration.
  For one, President Trump's statement ignores important context 
surrounding this figure. From January to December 2017 under President 
Trump, black unemployment dropped 1 percentage point. Comparatively, 
under President Obama, unemployment among black Americans dropped by 1 
percentage point during the same period in 2016; then by 1.9 points in 
2015; then by 1.5 points in 2014; and then by 1.8 points in 2013. We 
must not forget that it was President Obama who pulled our country out 
of the biggest economic downturn since the Great Recession, the effects 
of which we are still benefitting from to this day. Ultimately, in 
January 2018, we saw a huge jump in unemployment among the black 
community to 7.7 percentage points.
  The unemployment rate is not the only important indicator for 
economic health. Average wealth is an important metric, and one that 
points to a larger problem within our country. For example, for every 
$100 in wealth accumulated by an average white family, the average 
black family can expect to only have accumulated $5.04. For every $100 
in income earned by the average white family, black families earn just 
$57.30 on average. This wealth disparity has serious implications for 
housing, education, social mobility, and other factors that impact 
future earnings and wealth. Yet, in the face of these economic 
indicators, President Trump still proposes making drastic cuts to 
federal programs that help vulnerable segments of our population to 
escape poverty.
  Mr. Speaker, access to wealth is more important than simply providing 
the means to purchase goods and services. Wealth enables families to 
grow without the hindrance of debt, gain access to safer neighborhoods 
and better schools, and become more equipped to pay for better 
education. In the absence of this, you see what we are witnessing 
within the black community--a racial wealth gap that continues to widen 
as time marches on. We need to overcome the economic disparities that 
have plagued the black community for generations and create new 
opportunities to lift our most vulnerable out of poverty.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, thank you Congressman Evans for 
yielding and for anchoring this very important special order on the 
state of economic inequality in the United States, especially regarding 
its citizens of color.
  The President would have us believe he is bringing the country 
together and growing the economy for all Americans but this could not 
be further from the truth.
  First and foremost, Trump has nothing to do with the African-American 
unemployment rate being at its current level.
  The President inherited a strong and rescued economy, including the 
downward trend in black unemployment from President Obama.
  The African-American unemployment rate was cut in half during the 
Obama Administration.
  The African-American unemployment rate actually jumped nearly one 
percentage point in January 2018, right after President Trump took 
credit for it being the lowest on record.
  During the Obama era, the economy added 15 million new jobs, the 
black unemployment rate dropped and the high school graduation rate for 
African Americans soared.
  The members of the CBC are here to tell the American people: ``Stay 
Woke, Don't Be Fooled.''
  The racial wealth gap is much larger than the wage or income gap by 
race.
  Average wealth for white families is seven times higher than average 
wealth for black families.
  Worse still, median wealth (wealth for the family in the exact middle 
of the overall distribution--wealthier than half of all families and 
less-wealthy than half) for white households is twelve times higher 
than median African-American wealth.
  Black-white wage gaps are larger today than they were in 1979.
  Young African-American women have been hardest hit since 2000.
  The wage gap for African-American men was 22.2 percent in 1979; in 
2015 it was 31 percent.
  Wage gaps are growing primarily because of discrimination and racial 
differences in skills and worker characteristics.
  Declining unionization has also had a role in the growing African-
American-white wage gap, particularly for men newly joining the 
workforce.
  African Americans have been disproportionately affected by the 
growing gap between pay and productivity.
  Not only are the President's policies divisive along racial and 
cultural lines, they also serve to further increase economic inequality 
due to their clear design in favor of the wealthiest among us at the 
expense of everyone else.
  Trump's billionaire tax heist robs the U.S. Treasury of $1.5 trillion 
in resources that could be invested in economic growth in underserved 
communities.
  Trump has proposed eliminating programs that help minority businesses 
and that help minority communities access bank lending.
  Trump has opposed increasing the minimum wage and eliminating labor 
protections for middle and lower income workers in the black community
  Trump has proposed doubling down on mass incarceration and the war on 
drugs, which drains the African-American labor pool.
  Trump has taken every opportunity to harm health care for African-
Americans from sabotaging the ACA to ending Medicaid as we know it.
  Donald Trump is no friend to African-Americans' pocket book.
  Trump also wants you to believe that he wants a bipartisan 
infrastructure plan.
  ``Stay Woke; don't be fooled.''
  Trump's proposal is yet another giveaway to his wealthy friends.
  Instead of providing a robust federal investment in our 
infrastructure, including roads, bridges, mass transit, schools and 
broadband, Trump wants to give tax incentives to wealthy firms and 
individuals to build infrastructure that will cost the middle and lower 
income Americans money to use.
  Instead of making it easier for state and local governments to invest 
in needed projects, he will make it more expensive for them to do so by 
reducing the federal cost share.
  A recent National Urban League report titled ``Protect Our Progress'' 
gives a detailed look at the conditions of African Americans today.
  The report suggested that the nation should invest in a ``Main Street 
Marshall Plan'' that would ensure that the gains made by African-
Americans during the Obama administration aren't lost.
  The plan includes expanding pre-K, increasing the number of college 
students receiving Pell grants, increasing the minimum wage and summer 
youth employment programs and incentivizing more doctors to accept 
Medicaid.
  But we are in a climate where the current administration is looking 
to make cuts in many of these areas.
  As it has for more than a decade, the Urban League used its Equality 
Index to track how close black America has gotten to white America in 
five major areas: education, health, social justice, economics and 
civic engagement.
  There was not much change between 2015 and 2016 in the five areas the 
Urban League measures.
  For this reason, the overall 2017 Equality Index of Black America was 
72.3 percent, compared to 72.2 percent the year before.
  An index of 100 percent would mean full equality in the particular 
measure between African-Americans and whites.
  The biggest increase came in the area of education, which rose from 
77.4 percent in 2015 to 78.2 percent in 2016.

[[Page H774]]

  In economics, African-Americans went from an equality index rate of 
56.2 percent in 2015 to 56.5 percent in 2016.
  In healthcare, the equality index between African-American and white 
Americans went from 79.4 to 80 percent between 2015 and 2016.
  The only decrease came in social justice, from 60.9 to 57.4 percent.
  In the category of civic engagement, African Americans actually 
surpass whites, according to the Urban League, with the number between 
2015 and 2016 remaining at 100.6 percent.
  As for Hispanics, there was a bigger increase in the overall Equality 
Index, from 77.9 percent in 2015 to 78.4 percent in 2016.
  The Urban League also ranked the 70 metropolitan areas from the 
smallest gap in unemployment between African Americans and whites (and 
Hispanics and whites) to the largest gap.
  For African Americans, the area with the smallest black-white 
unemployment gap was San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX, where the African 
Americans unemployment rate was 6.4 percent (down 1.9 percentage points 
from the previous year)
  The white rate was 4.5 percent (down 0.4 percentage points).
  The area with the largest gap was Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI, 
where the unemployment rate for African Americans was 13.8 percent, 
while just 2.7 percent for whites.
  In income inequality, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA for the 
third consecutive year had the smallest difference between African 
Americans median household income and white median household income
  The city with the biggest income gap was Minneapolis-St. Paul-
Bloomington, MN-WI, where the chasm was 41 cents for African Americans 
for every dollar earned by a white person.
  For both African Americans and Hispanics, the area with the highest 
median household income was Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-
WV, at $68,054 for blacks and $69,481 for Hispanics.
  It also had the highest white household income at $112,177.
  Mr. Speaker, our nation still has a long way to go before we achieve 
economic equality for all its citizens.

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