[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21304]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  POVERTY AND THE HALF IN TEN CAMPAIGN

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 16, 2011

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, at this holiday season, it is proper for 
us to pause and consider the major threat that poverty poses to our 
nation, and how the path we take to address that challenge will 
determine whether we succeed in improving America's long-term social, 
economic, and moral well-being.
  Income inequality has risen sharply over the past 30 years. Since 
1979, the gap in after-tax income between the wealthiest one percent 
and middle- and low-income quintiles has more than tripled. Adjusted 
gross income for working-class families has seen the least growth, and 
the economic collapse of 2008 put many out of work.
  Last year, 49 million Americans--including almost 17 million 
children--lived in poverty. One in four children in America is 
considered ``food insecure,'' sometimes going to bed hungry. That 
number is unconscionable. But poverty is not just a statistic--it 
impacts our families, neighbors, and communities in many ways.
  Shirley G. is a Social Security beneficiary in Harwood Heights, 
Illinois, who suffers from severe asthma, diabetes, high cholesterol 
and high blood pressure. On September 1, she learned that due to state 
budget shortfalls, she would have to pay out-of-pocket for her 
medications. Shirley elected to pay her basic health insurance, rent, 
gas, electric and telephone bills and NOT buy food. She signed up for a 
``meals on wheels'' program to provide her with one meal per day and 
relies on a local food pantry for her remaining food needs. She was 
also forced to ration her medication. The unpredictability of food and 
medicine has wreaked havoc on her health and she cannot stabilize her 
asthma or diabetes.
  Jack K. worked for decades as a taxi cab driver, but retired with 
very little wealth. He now lives in subsidized housing and depends on 
soup kitchens and food pantries to stave off hunger.
  Yesterday I met with two outstanding young people--Starnica Rodgers 
and Brandon Dunlap--who have struggled with homelessness their whole 
lives. During high school, both were what is called ``unaccompanied 
homeless youth,'' meaning they were underage and without a home.
  Against those odds, both Starnica and Brandon are now thriving. 
Starnica is enrolled in college and is an expectant mother. Brandon is 
a college graduate with a good job and a bright future. Both are 
incredible success stories, but they are the exception to the rule--
particularly in today's economy. More common are the homeless to whom I 
passed out sandwiches on a recent cold Chicago night, working with the 
Night Ministry.
  Too many Americans born in poverty don't have the tools to escape it. 
And too many formerly middle-class Americans are falling into poverty. 
We must promote and protect affordable housing, nutrition assistance, 
good schools, and other services to enable everyone to have a chance at 
the American Dream.
  We have a responsibility to reduce poverty so that no one has to make 
the choice between medication and heat, and so that every child has a 
place to call home and food to eat. We owe it to our constituents and 
our country to buffer existing social safety net programs so that 
Shirley, Jack, Starnica and Brandon can keep a roof over their heads 
and put food in their stomachs.
  I am troubled with the vitriol that many public figures have directed 
at those struggling with poverty and at the programs that give them a 
chance to thrive. This is a time when all Americans need to help one 
another succeed.
  The Half in Ten Campaign has set an ambitious but achievable goal of 
cutting poverty in half in ten years. I am an original cosponsor of 
Congresswoman Barbara Lee's Half in Ten Act, which would strengthen 
anti-poverty initiatives by creating a national plan to meet the goal 
of reducing poverty by 50 percent, eliminating extreme poverty, and 
eliminating child poverty over the next decade.
  This task will be difficult. It will require an honest assessment of 
the successes and failures of our social safety net programs, and make 
recommendations on how to improve the effectiveness of those programs. 
It will also seek solutions to the causes of poverty; income 
inequality, economic instability, lack of living wages, and lack of 
investment in low-income communities.
  Poverty touches every community in America, and we should be able to 
formulate a robust, bipartisan solution to the crisis. I thank 
Congresswoman Lee for her leadership on this issue, and I urge my 
colleagues to come together in support of the Half in Ten Act.

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