[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 300]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 MARKING 50 YEARS OF THE WAR ON POVERTY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Swalwell) for 3\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago, President 
Johnson declared in this Chamber the war on poverty, and this is one 
war that we must continue to wage.
  I want to thank my neighbor in Alameda County who represents Oakland 
and San Leandro and Alameda and Berkeley, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, 
who is Congress' greatest champion today to continue fighting President 
Johnson's war on poverty, and I am grateful to have a mentor in 
Congresswoman Lee who has guided and helped me as I have worked to do 
my part.
  Since President Johnson's declaration, we have made real progress. 
Using an accurate measurement of who is poor in America shows we have 
cut the rate from 25.8 percent in 1967 to 16 percent in 2012, reducing 
by millions the number of Americans who are poor. Unfortunately, this 
war is not yet won. Almost 50 million Americans still live in poverty, 
including over 13 million children. In such an abundant society as 
ours, there is only one word to describe these stark facts, 
``unconscionable,'' and we can do better.
  This Congress should make it a priority to help the poor, the 
economically downtrodden, and the jobless. Their path to economic 
opportunity still remains dim. But this Congress, the people in this 
House, can be their light. If we are going to win the war on poverty, 
there are many battles today that we must win:
  First, we should start by extending unemployment insurance now and 
not putting 1.3 million Americans out in the cold;
  Second, we need to raise our minimum wage so those working hard and 
trying to earn a living can actually do so;
  Third, we must fight harsh cuts to SNAP and Head Start to make sure 
everyone has equal opportunity.
  These are just a few of the small battles that we must win right now 
in the larger war on poverty.
  This is no time to turn back or to retreat. This is a time for a 
surge in our war against poverty. Millions of Americans, including 
children, are counting on us, and we must ask ourselves a few 
questions:
  Has this war been won?
  Has poverty been eradicated across America?
  And is our middle class built out?
  If the answer to any of these questions is ``no,'' then we know what 
we must continue to do. We must fight on, and we must keep fighting 
until we win the war on poverty.

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