[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16540]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   POVERTY IN AMERICA ONE YEAR FOLLOWING HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 28, 2006

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, before Congress recesses for the 
month of August, I would like to take a moment of time to call 
attention to an issue of great importance. As a nation, we are 
approaching the year anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, two of 
the most powerful and destructive natural disasters the United States 
has seen.
  Chaos ensued in the aftermath of the hurricanes; untimely responses 
to the disaster in addition to inadequate resources turned the 
situation from a natural into a man-made disaster. As people were 
fleeing their homes and gathering in camps like refugees without water, 
food, or adequate shelter--media coverage began to expose the dirty 
secret of America's working poor. Out of the 5.8 million people from 
the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama who were directly 
affected by this devastation, more than one million--nearly one-fifth 
of those affected--lived in poverty. These atrocities shined the light 
on poverty in America. People could not ignore it. Indeed, the events 
made Americans question, ``how is it that so many people, most of them 
children, are living below the poverty line in the wealthiest country 
in the world?''
  Upon visiting New Orleans after the Hurricanes, President Bush 
declared that the nation had a solemn duty to help the poor. But the 
issue of America's poor was brief in the presidential limelight. 
Despite the clarity of the problem of poverty that the disasters 
brought, poverty fails to be a priority for this administration. The 
war in Iraq is the top priority for this administration, draining the 
country's resources and taking precedent over the pressing domestic 
issue of abject poverty in America. Tax cuts for the wealthiest 
Americans, not healthcare and living wages for those who are struggling 
to make it. Significant cuts to our social safety nets of Medicare and 
Medicaid. Failure to raise the minimum wage. Time after time, this 
Administration has promoted legislation that disenfranchises the 
working poor. The administration had an opportunity to address poverty, 
and it has shown a complete lack of leadership to do so. Poverty is not 
a priority for this administration.
  As Members of Congress, we share the responsibility with the 
executive branch of government to put poverty back on the agenda, to 
create and fund programs that can help America's forgotten poor. I hope 
that assisting the poor in fundamental ways will top our legislative 
agenda when we return. Doing so would be the best tribute to the 
victims of the recent hurricane disasters to mark the year anniversary 
of this sad moment in our history.

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