[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 19, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H2593-H2594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1900
                 FULLY ADDRESSING POVERTY AND LOW WAGES

  (Ms. JAYAPAL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, Mahatma Gandhi, a great leader on 
nonviolence, said poverty is the worst form of violence.
  Let me be clear: We allow poverty when we take no action to eradicate 
it. 145 million Americans today live in poverty in the wealthiest 
country in the world.
  We allow poverty to continue when we approve bloated military 
spending, when structural racism is everywhere, when 55 of the largest 
corporations did not even pay $1 in taxes last year, when 32 million 
people do not even get paid $15 an hour, and 87 million Americans 
remain uninsured or underinsured.
  Poor people in this country are suffering, without the food they need 
to eat, without the wages they deserve,

[[Page H2594]]

without the dignity they have a right to.
  We, in Congress, have the power to end poverty. We must act 
immediately with resolve, moral clarity, and with complete attention to 
the lives of poor people who demand to be seen and respected with our 
actions.
  That is why I am so proud to co-introduce with Representative Barbara 
Lee this bold and necessary resolution that commits Congress to 
eradicating poverty from the bottom up.
  Mr. Speaker, today, we say to poor people everywhere, we see you, and 
we will eradicate poverty in our country with you.

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