[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 693]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             WAR ON POVERTY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, when President Lyndon Johnson declared a 
war on poverty in his 1964 State of the Union address, the poverty rate 
in this, the richest country on Earth, was 19 percent. His Great 
Society legislation, a continuation of President Franklin Roosevelt's 
New Deal and President Harry Truman's Fair Deal, launch a plethora of 
programs and priorities to serve and protect the neediest and the most 
vulnerable among us.
  At the time, President Johnson cautioned that the war on poverty 
would be long and difficult. But by 1973, only 9 years later, the 
poverty rate had been brought down to 11 percent. We were definitely 
winning the war on poverty. Unfortunately, many politicians found 
success, creating myths about the poor and inventing phantoms like the 
so-called ``welfare queen.'' They popularized a narrative that the war 
on poverty was not worth fighting, but nothing could be further from 
the truth.
  For example, Medicare and Medicaid, both war on poverty initiatives, 
have made a tremendous difference in the health and security of older 
Americans and all Americans of modest means. These two very successful 
anti-poverty programs, when they were initiated, the poverty rate among 
seniors was over 30 percent. Today, the poverty rate among seniors is 
under 10 percent. By what measure can one conclude that these two 
programs are failures?
  In addition to Medicare and Medicaid, President Johnson signed into 
law the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. This law launched VISTA--
Volunteers in Service to America--Head Start, TRIO, and a slew of other 
very successful community-action programs. TRIO did not fail. In fact, 
many Members of this body on both sides of the aisle would not be here 
today were it not for Upward Bound, Talent Search, and the Special 
Students Concerns programs.
  Lest we forget, about 6 months after President Johnson launched the 
war on poverty, Congress responded to his call and passed the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964 and a year later the landmark Voting Rights Act of 
1965. These two vital laws created educational and employment 
opportunities for women and minorities that allowed many of us to 
fulfill our dreams and aspirations. In the communities many of us grew 
up in, many Americans were able to vote for the first time in their 
lives. There is no better way to wage a war on poverty than their 
freedom to choose and unfettered access to the franchise.
  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose 85th birthday we celebrate today, 
once famously said:

       Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is 
     the most shocking and inhumane.

  The record is pretty clear that, in recent years, the number one 
cause of bankruptcies to American families has been health care 
expenses. That is why I often call the Affordable Care Act, the civil 
rights act of the 21st century.
  This groundbreaking new law is already having a positive difference. 
It is giving all American families the security of quality, affordable 
health care. We still have much work to do. Persistent poverty 
continues to be a serious challenge, and we in the Congressional Black 
Caucus are serious about meeting that challenge. Our 10-20-30 
initiative targets communities of need for effective economic 
development through infrastructure investments that create jobs and lay 
foundations for long-term economic growth. The 10-20-30 approach, which 
this body authorized in the rural development section of the American 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, proved highly successful.
  This effective poverty-fighter should be expanded to other sections 
of the budget as we continue the long, and often torturous, search of a 
more perfect Union.

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