[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 195 (Thursday, December 15, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H9858]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN CALIFORNIA STATEWIDE

  (Ms. LEE of California asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I first thank Bishop Barber for 
that very powerful prayer for our Nation.
  Today, the Poor People's Campaign's California Statewide Convening 
will uplift the launch of the California-led campaign for the Third 
Reconstruction resolution called Close the Wealth Gap, California.
  Extreme poverty affects over 20 million people in California. This is 
a moral disgrace.
  As written in House Resolution 438, the Third Reconstruction, we need 
the moral resolve to pass laws and policies that fully address 
interlocking injustices, which have only deepened during the COVID-19 
pandemic.
  This country was founded on the moral commitment to ensure domestic 
tranquility, promote general welfare, and secure liberty and justice 
for all.
  It is time we realize a Third Reconstruction to build an equitable, 
thriving, and resilient economy from the bottom up.
  That is why I am calling on my colleagues to have the political will 
to make permanent the child tax credit. The most recent poverty data 
show that policy decisions like the temporary CTC, income support, and 
nutrition assistance cut the national child poverty rate nearly in half 
in 2021. This demonstrates that poverty is a policy choice and there is 
no excuse for poverty in America.
  Madam Speaker, everyone deserves to live a life free from 
socioeconomic policies that are punitive and destructive to their 
families.

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