[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6285-6291]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS: WEALTH CREATION AND THE OPPORTUNITY GAP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2013, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members

[[Page 6286]]

may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor and a privilege to once 
again have this opportunity to stand on the House floor as part of the 
Congressional Black Caucus' Special Order hour.
  For the next 60 minutes we will have an opportunity to speak directly 
to the American people about an issue of great significance: the 
growing wealth gap in America that is stratified along racial lines. It 
is a wealth gap that should concern all of us here in the House of 
Representatives, and certainly people who are concerned about the well-
being of this country in its entirety should be alarmed by any segment 
of this country being left behind across any measure of economic 
status.
  We will get into that throughout the duration of this CBC Special 
Order. Certainly, I am glad to be joined by the distinguished gentleman 
from Nevada, my good friend, the coanchor of this CBC Special Order, 
Representative Horsford.
  I will just begin by making the observation that it has often been 
stated that when Wall Street catches a cold, communities of color get 
the flu.
  We know that in 2008, when the economy collapsed and plunged us into 
the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Wall Street had a 
high fever; and as a result, as one might expect, communities of color 
all across the country have been suffering from economic pneumonia. In 
fact, a study that was prepared by the Center for Global Policy 
Solutions illustrates the point that communities of color were hurt the 
worst by the Great Recession and have benefited the least as a result 
of our recovery.
  And so the wealth gap, broadly defined across measures such as home 
ownership and access to good-paying jobs, retirement savings, has 
gotten worse, exacerbated by the shock of the Great Recession and the 
disproportionate lack of certain communities benefiting from the 
recovery that has taken place. So these are some of the topics that we 
are going to explore during this Special Order.
  I am pleased that we have been joined by a very distinguished member 
of the freshman class, my good friend, the gentleman from New Jersey, 
one of the best-dressed Members of the House of Representatives. I am 
surprised today that I do not see him with his classic bow tie. He is 
the ranking member of the CBC freshman class, but I believe he arrived 
here a little bit earlier.
  I am pleased to yield to my good friend, Representative Payne.
  Mr. PAYNE. I would like to thank the gentleman from New York for that 
kind introduction.
  I want to also say that we are here tonight on a very serious issue 
in tonight's Special Order. As so aptly put by the gentleman from New 
York, it feels like pneumonia in a lot of communities that we 
represent. I would dare to say that we might even need to call it an 
epidemic, because it has risen to epidemic proportions.
  Mr. Speaker, this Nation is supposed to be the land of opportunity, 
the land of equality. We are a Nation that says that if you work hard 
and you do the things you are supposed to do and you do everything that 
we ask you to do, you too can be successful and provide a better life 
for you and yours. That is the promise of America.
  Unfortunately, for too many in this country, this promise has been 
broken.
  Generation after generation, millions continue to experience 
generational poverty in this country--and this is especially true for 
people of color.
  Too many of the people in the district I represent in New Jersey have 
worked their entire lives. They have endured hard labor. They have 
worked two or three jobs. They have made minimum wage their entire 
lives. Yet they are still in poverty. The same is true for their 
parents before them and their grandparents and their great-
grandparents.
  Unfortunately, for too many people of color, the opportunities to 
succeed and move beyond circumstances of poverty are too little and far 
between. This leads to the wealth gap we see today. That wealth gap, 
Mr. Speaker, is unconscionable.
  In the 21st century, African Americans own just 5 cents for every 
dollar of wealth Whites own. More than 62 percent of African American 
households do not have assets in a retirement account. The median 
income of an African American is just over $33,000, barely above the 
poverty line. And African Americans are less likely to own homes, with 
just 44 percent of African Americans owning homes compared to 74 
percent of Whites.
  In New Jersey alone, the poverty rate has grown to a staggering 28 
percent. Many economists believe that this is an underestimate of the 
number of people falling into poverty in New Jersey.
  How can those who are clawing just to get by even begin to think 
about creating wealth for their children or future generations? How can 
a single mother who works 40 or more hours a week still find herself in 
poverty? How does she begin to dream about saving for her children's 
college education or to save for a home or to plan for her retirement? 
The simple answer is they can't. And the racial wealth gap will 
continue to grow even wider.
  Mr. Speaker, there is so much Congress can do to change the course of 
this country and to help those who are working hard and playing by the 
rules.
  The priorities we place within our national budget determine whether 
we strengthen our economy and grow our middle class or whether we 
create a greater wealth gap between the haves and the have-nots.
  This Nation has a clear choice, Mr. Speaker. The Ryan Republican 
budget cuts hundreds of millions of dollars in vital education 
investments, ends the Medicare guarantee for seniors, and it will cost 
this country more than 1 million jobs next year alone. And if that is 
not bad enough, the Ryan Republican budget asks working and middle-
class Americans to pay for the thousands of dollars in tax breaks given 
to the wealthiest among us. That is why, in good conscience, I cannot 
support such a budget.
  At a time when too many people are still desperately struggling to 
make ends meet, I know that the people in my home State of New Jersey 
deserve better. I believe that all Americans should demand better as 
well.
  In contrast, the budgets that the Democrats and the Congressional 
Black Caucus have proposed recognize the dangerous course this country 
is on and work to move us forward rather than divide us deeper.
  The Democratic budget builds ladders of opportunities to grow our 
middle class by investing in education, strengthening Social Security 
and Medicare, and protecting the 8 million people who, for the first 
time, now have access to affordable, lifesaving health care.
  The proposals within the Democratic budget would restore the American 
promise that if you work hard, you can succeed. And not only can you 
succeed for yourself, but you can generate wealth and create a better 
life for your children and your grandchildren.
  That is the choice that each Member in this Congress has to make, and 
it is a choice every American has to make. This choice will determine 
the direction of this country, not only for this generation, but for 
generations to come.
  Mr. Speaker, it is not a zero-sum game. We all can be winners with 
the right kind of focus and investment; and in doing so, we will 
strengthen this country for future generations.
  As I stated and made clear, we are talking about people that have 
played by the rules and have worked hard, working 40 hours-plus, and 
yet still find themselves on the margins. We are not even talking about 
the hundreds of thousands of citizens that I represent that we don't 
even want to help with programs such as SNAP anymore.
  I am not even talking about the needy in this country, Mr. Speaker. I 
am talking about the people that play by the rules and that are doing 
everything that they have been asked to do in this great Nation and 
still find themselves on the margin.

                              {time}  2030

  So we will continue to raise these issues. We will continue to talk 
to the

[[Page 6287]]

American people and get them to understand that we cannot continue down 
the path that we are headed. It is bleak. It is grim. It is a total U-
turn in where this country has gone.
  I can only think of the statements that have been made by several 
individuals in this country that are distasteful and disgusting over 
the past several weeks. We need to keep the American Dream alive for 
everyone.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank my good friend and the distinguished gentleman 
from New Jersey for his very thoughtful and eloquent remarks and 
observations, and for pointing out that, while we can have 
disagreements, of course, here in this Chamber on matters of policy, we 
should all share the same objective as it relates to making sure that 
every American has got a robust, full, complete access to the 
opportunity to robustly pursue the American Dream.
  As this report and the Color of Wealth Summit will illustrate later 
on this week, that is not necessarily the case right now in America, 
where you have such a disparate reality between the wealth in certain 
communities where the dividing line is race.
  It is a wonderful thing that this great country is becoming 
increasingly diverse. I think our diversity is one of our great 
strengths.
  But the reality of the situation is that if certain communities, the 
African American community, the Latino community, other communities of 
color, find themselves left behind, locked out, unable to advance 
economically in the numbers that they should because of barriers, 
institutional and historical, that have existed or been erected that we 
have yet to tear down, that is something that should alarm all of us 
because it relates to the ability of America to fulfill its promise as 
we move forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that we have been joined by a very 
distinguished Member of the Congress, someone who has been a champion 
on issues of fairness and equality and justice for all Americans, and 
certainly for the district that he represents in Baltimore and in 
Maryland.
  Let me now yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings).
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Thank you very much. I want to thank the gentleman for 
yielding. And I want to thank you and Mr. Horsford and the 
Congressional Black Caucus and certainly Mr. Payne for being here 
tonight.
  We are, indeed, at a critical moment in our country's history. As I 
listened to my colleagues talk about the wealth gap, you know, a lot of 
times when we address these issues, people say the words, ``Here they 
go again,'' almost as if to say, let's dismiss this issue; this is an 
issue that is limited to a limited number of people.
  But the problem is, as we listen to the things that have been said 
here tonight, this is not a Black problem, this is not a Hispanic 
problem; this is an American problem.
  We have to keep in mind that when you have this kind of gap, these 
kind of gaps, what happens is the driving force that makes our economy 
run is placed in a position where they cannot make the purchases that 
are necessary. When I say purchases, I am not talking about purchases 
of washing machines and dryers and curtains and things of that nature. 
I am talking about being able to properly educate their children.
  A lot of what has been talked about here tonight is whether you can 
place your children in a position to do better than what you did. So 
what we are talking about is trying to figure out ways to close that 
gap so that everybody rises, as opposed to--it has been said, when you 
have got a wealth gap of 5 or 6 cents for Hispanics and African 
Americans, as compared to Whites, what that means is that, slowly but 
surely, you have one part of your society that simply is not 
participating at any reasonable level.
  So the question is, how do we address those issues?
  I know that the Black Caucus budget goes in that direction. But one 
of the things that I have concentrated on quite a bit is the whole 
situation with the loss of wealth with regard to property.
  African Americans and Hispanics, quite often, their wealth is tied up 
in property. Over the past few years, we have seen a tremendous loss of 
that wealth.
  You talked about it a little bit earlier, about how when America has 
a cold--is that what you said--then we have pneumonia.
  So what has happened is that, disproportionately, African Americans 
and Hispanics have lost a lot of that wealth in property because they 
lost their property. And when they lost that property, they no longer 
had collateral to make business loans, to even get loans for their 
kids, or to do the things that they really wanted to do to make their 
lives better.
  But just as significantly, they were losing jobs at the same time. So 
as quiet as it is kept, you have a situation where a lot of Hispanics 
and African Americans were trying to help their relatives.
  So not only were they losing their houses, but then whatever savings 
they may have had, or the little extra income that they may have had 
that they could have put aside for a rainy day, or in an effort to 
create some wealth, it simply was disappearing.
  Then we have had some major settlements with regard to these mortgage 
lenders, and the mortgage lenders have come in and basically, pretty 
much admitted, through these settlements, that they wronged a lot of 
people.
  As a matter of fact, in my city, in Baltimore, there were certain 
mortgage companies that admitted that they were pushing people into 
subprime situations, that they could have done even better, and these 
were African Americans, by the way, and giving them all these loans, 
``no doc'' loans and things of that nature, and the next thing you 
know, the people had lost all they had.
  So the question now becomes, with two major settlements, what did 
they get?
  As we are doing our research on the Oversight and Government Reform 
Committee and looking at some of this, what we have noticed is that a 
lot of the people who suffered the most got the least out of the 
settlements.
  There are still settlements that are going to take place, so what we 
are trying to do is study the settlements that have been resolved to 
learn from those so that future settlement monies will go to the people 
who actually were harmed. That is just one area.
  But again, we have got to do everything in our power to close this 
gap. This is our watch. We are here today. We are the ones who must 
guard the progress that has been made.
  Quiet as it is kept, slowly, but surely, we have seen some of that 
progress go in the opposite direction in a downward spiral. So what we 
are here to do is to make sure that not only do we stop that slide for 
African Americans and Hispanics, because, like I said, if we stop that 
slide there, then the entire economy does well, then all of us do well, 
and that is what it is all about.
  So I want to thank the Congressional Black Caucus for doing this. 
This is so important. We must be the voice, and we must constantly 
pound the drums because so often I think what happens--and I will close 
on this--is a lot of times people see things going in the opposite 
direction and they say, we will get to it tomorrow, or we will wait 
another day, or somebody else will deal with it, or maybe somebody else 
will speak up about it.
  So what happens is nobody does anything. Nobody says anything. And 
the next thing you know, 10 years have passed, 20 years, and you look 
back and you say, Wow, there was a lot of slippage there.
  But you know what?
  That slippage also represents people. I heard Congressman Payne talk 
about people in his district. I have heard you talk about yours and 
Congressman Horsford. These are people. These are people whom we 
represent. These are people who get the early bus, the ones who go 
through trying to make it possible for not only their children but 
their grandchildren to do well.
  So again, I want to thank you.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentleman from Maryland for 
his very thoughtful remarks and observations, and for pointing out that 
if we

[[Page 6288]]

can find a way to make sure that, collectively, the African American 
community is uplifted, the Latino community is uplifted, that we can 
close the racial wealth gap that exists in America across these 
different measurements, whether that is home ownership or access to 
good-paying jobs or retirement security, savings accounts, whatever the 
case may be, that if we can close this gap that exists, that America, 
overall, benefits, particularly as we become a more diverse country.
  Now, 50 years ago our President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, came to this 
very floor and, before a joint session of Congress, declared a war on 
poverty. As a result of this legislative effort, there were several 
things that were put into place that have benefited Americans over 
time. Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, the school breakfast program, the 
Food Stamp Act, Job Corps, minimum wage enhancement, college work 
study--all of these programs were part of the effort to create a great 
society.
  Over the last 50 years, as a result of the war on poverty, 
significant progress has been made. Tens of millions of Americans have 
been lifted out of an impoverished condition and set on a pathway 
toward the middle class. But we know that there is still a long way to 
go.
  In fact, the middle class, broadly defined, has taken a huge hit in 
the aftermath of the collapse of the economy, and that hit has 
disproportionately and adversely impacted communities of color, and the 
African community in particular.
  We are here to illuminate the fact that, in our humble opinion, that 
is bad for America as a whole.
  I am pleased that my good friend, and the coanchor of this CBC 
Special Order, has joined us today, the distinguished gentleman from 
the Silver State, who has worked incredibly hard on behalf of the 
district that he represents.
  Let me now yield to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford).
  Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my good friend, my 
colleague, the gentleman from the great State of New York (Mr. 
Jeffries) for his leadership and for coanchoring this hour, and for 
focusing the efforts of the Congressional Black Caucus and the 
attention on such an important and pressing matter as the issue of the 
decline of opportunities for millions of Americans.
  So often people ask the question, why do you have to talk about race?
  Why do you have to raise issues in the context of the 
disproportionality of issues as it applies to race?

                              {time}  2045

  If there is any question about why that is the need or why there is a 
need to do that, unfortunately, the events over the last week and the 
comments by individuals over the last week indicate why these issues 
are still so prevalent in our country.
  They talk about the original sin being slavery in this country, and 
the fact is so much of the disparate treatment of color is based on 
some institutional issues that are so pervasive in a number of 
different areas.
  For me, it is necessary because I represent a district that is very 
diverse, like many Members in this body. My district is home to Cliven 
Bundy, the rancher that has received so much national attention, not 
just because of the issues around his use of public lands, even though 
he had failed to pay the grazing fees and was prohibited from being on 
that land, but because of the racist, hate-filled words that he talked 
about pertaining to African Americans.
  The fact that he said that people didn't take the time to understand 
his way of life in a town in Nevada's Fourth Congressional District, 
but yet he would profile another community based on the fact that he 
just drove by and looked and observed their situation and then judged 
and made the judgment that maybe they were better off under slavery.
  Maybe it is the recent remarks by the owner of the L.A. Clippers, the 
fact that, in a private conversation, he would talk about what his true 
feelings are about the people who have made him such a wealthy 
individual; and yet it is that hate-filled racist view that we are here 
to expose today.
  So when we talk about opportunity, it is fundamental. It is a 
fundamental tenet of our great Nation, and we still are trying to live 
up to that ideal of an equal opportunity for every individual.
  So just like I advocate for constituents who live out in Bunkerville 
and Mesquite, in Moapa Valley, in Virgin Valley as part of my 
congressional district, in rural areas that may not have a lot of 
diversity, just as they are concerned with the armed militia that are 
still in their communities tonight--and I have spoken up and asked law 
enforcement agencies to help remove those armed militias from that 
local community that just wants to return to normal--I am also here to 
speak up for communities throughout my district that are very diverse, 
that have Latino communities and African American and Asian American 
communities that are faced with this opportunity gap issue that we are 
here to talk about.
  This is not a one-way conversation that we are having. We want to 
invite those of you who are watching on C-SPAN or those of you who are 
following us on Twitter at #CBCtalks to get involved in the 
conversation. Tweet us your comments about what this opportunity gap 
means to you.
  The ability to work hard and achieve success, no matter what part of 
society you were born in, this is what has produced the world's largest 
middle class and has propelled all of us to be the most powerful and 
wealthy country in the world; and it has also been an economy that 
works for everyone, in that it grows wealth from the middle out. That 
has produced our country's most prosperous times, and that is what we 
are here to defend tonight in this conversation.
  But in the past two decades, in particular, and particularly during 
our Nation's recovery from the great recession, as my colleague from 
New York (Mr. Jeffries) illuminated, the promise of opportunity is not 
materializing for millions of Americans.
  It is not because these individuals don't want that opportunity. It 
is not because there is a lack of willingness or hard work on behalf of 
individuals. The question is: What is keeping so many people from that 
same opportunity?
  More and more Americans are falling out of the middle class and into 
poverty while those in poverty are unable to climb beyond the first 
rung of the economic ladder.
  Just last week, we learned from The New York Times that America no 
longer has the wealthiest middle class in the world, falling behind our 
neighbors to the north, Canada; and this should not come as a shock to 
anyone, given the troubling economic trends of the past decade or so.
  We have to recognize that these income inequalities and a shrinking 
middle class is a crisis for our Nation and one that will not go away 
if we do not act. In fact, it is a crisis that will only grow worse and 
will ultimately catch up to our ability to sustain our position as the 
world's wealthiest country.
  Now, as my colleague from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), the ranking 
member, just said, it is not an easy crisis to solve, and no single 
policy will address all of the factors that are contributing to the 
growing opportunity gap, but one issue that I want to speak about 
specifically is the fact that experts have consistently and nearly 
universally identified the area that will go the furthest in providing 
expanded opportunities for all, and that is education and particularly 
early education.
  Positive social and cognitive development starts very early, and 
children who are encouraged to actively learn, starting from when they 
are as young as 3 or 4 years old, experience tremendous long-term 
benefits.
  Research also shows that high-quality early childhood education can 
provide children from poor working class backgrounds with the similar 
early learning experiences as children from wealthier backgrounds.
  Now, why is this important? The enrollment and graduation rates by 
race

[[Page 6289]]

matter. For those individuals who belong to the Asian American 
community, they have the highest graduation rates, at nearly 70 
percent. Among the White population, it is about 62 percent. Among the 
Latino community, it is 51 percent.
  But for African Americans, according to the 2005 cohort, we have just 
a 39.9 percent graduation rate compared to enrollment. So if we are 
going to change these statistics, we have to start at the beginning, 
and that is an investment in education, in early childhood education.
  Now, we can't do that by supporting the budget by Congressman Paul 
Ryan, which would cut investments in Head Start, which we know greatly 
helps all children develop social and cognitive skills that they 
otherwise might not receive at home.
  In addition to early education investments, it is critical that we 
invest in our middle schools and high schools, so that every student 
has an opportunity to succeed and to be prepared to go to college and 
ultimately graduate with a college degree.
  Still, to this day, schools are not even close to receiving equal 
amounts of funding; and that is why groups, such as the Children's 
Defense Fund, talk about be careful what you cut and that our budgets 
reflect our values, that if we don't invest properly in education, in 
early childhood education, then we are not going to get the type of 
return on investments and improved outcomes through high school 
graduation and college. Low-income African American students, in 
particular, suffer the consequence from these circumstances.
  If I could talk about this chart for just a moment, dealing with the 
access to a full range of courses in math and science among the White, 
Asian, Latino, and African American population--again, this is an issue 
of access.
  If students aren't being exposed to a curriculum in science, 
technology, engineering, and math, then they are not going to be able 
to learn or perform or graduate in these areas.
  In this chart, we see an incredibly reduced rate for African 
Americans when it comes to math and science courses. Only 57 percent of 
African American students have access to a full range of math and 
science courses. These are subjects that have major impacts when it 
comes to college readiness and achievement scores on standardized 
testing.
  Now, in my home State of Nevada, the graduation rate discrepancy 
between White students and students of color is striking: 72 percent 
for Whites, 55 percent for Latinos, and a staggeringly low rate of 48 
percent for African Americans.
  Nevada's high school graduation rate is the lowest in the Nation. In 
fact, today, they just released the most recent high school graduation 
statistics for every State in the country, and Nevada was at the 
bottom.
  It contributes greatly to our State receiving the lowest opportunity 
score in the country by Opportunity Nation, which factors in economic, 
educational, and community conditions that affect people's ability to 
succeed and climb the economic ladder.
  So if we don't address education and invest in education, then we are 
never going to really be able to truly close this wealth gap that 
exists.
  That is why the CBC and the Democratic alternative budgets both 
propose investing billions of dollars--in fact, reinvesting because, 
under the budgets that were passed when we were in the majority in this 
House, the funding was there for school and the training of our 
teachers to properly address the growing opportunity gap between high-
income and low-income students; but under the GOP here in the House, 
they have slashed those budgets. It is time for us to reinvest.
  The Republican budget ignores the long-term opportunity gaps that 
arise in our Nation's low-income schools. It would pull the rug out 
from under as many as 3.4 million disadvantaged students and 8,000 
schools across the country. It cuts 29,000 teachers and teacher aides, 
educating disadvantaged students by 2016. The GOP budget cuts 170,000 
vulnerable children out of Head Start, as I said.
  So it is pretty clear to me that the differences between the House 
Republican budget and the Democratic priorities stand when it comes to 
investing and providing opportunities to the next generation of middle 
class workers, but it starts with education. That is why we need to 
fulfill that promise of opportunity for all and allow those who work 
hard and who play by the rules to climb that economic ladder and to 
achieve economic stability in their lives, no longer living paycheck to 
paycheck.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank my good friend for that very comprehensive 
presentation and, in particular, for focusing in on the importance and 
the significance of investing in education in order to create a bright 
future for everybody.
  Certainly, we cannot continue to allow so many people across this 
country to find themselves trapped in a dysfunctional public school 
system that essentially dooms them to life sentences of disadvantage 
and despair and fails to adequately prepare them for the challenges of 
a 21st century economy.
  Now, we are here today talking about the racial wealth gap in 
America; and invariably, there will be some commentator who is going to 
make the observation: There they go again, members of the Congressional 
Black Caucus taking to the House floor, speaking about race.
  Actually, it is not that frequent an occurrence, but we are compelled 
to do so today; and then, as my good friend made the observation: Who 
should we allow to talk about race in America? Should we just leave it 
to Paula Deen to talk about race in America? Does that reflect 
positively on this great country?

                              {time}  2100

  Should we just allow Cliven Bundy to talk about race in America? Does 
that paint our country in the best possible light? Or should we just 
leave it to Donald Sterling to talk about race in America? Does that 
reflect the views of the great many good-hearted people across this 
country? Of course we shouldn't. And so we are here today to illuminate 
a problem that we think America should deal with for the good of the 
country--not just the African American community, because there is a 
significant gap in terms of wealth generation, creation, and 
maintenance that threatens the economic security of this country.
  Let me just briefly highlight a few points along this spectrum, one, 
in terms of the unemployment rate is a significant difference. The 
White unemployment rate is 5.8 percent in this country, as this chart 
illustrates. The Latino unemployment rate is 7.9 percent, and the 
African American unemployment rate is 12.4 percent.
  In terms of annual median income, you see the same type of disparity. 
The average median income for White Americans is $57,009. The average 
median income for African Americans is $33,321. And in terms of overall 
wealth, for White families, $113,149, but for African American families 
in this great country, the average collective wealth is $5,677. That 
means for every $100 in a White household, a similarly situated African 
American household only has $5. That is a problem for America that we 
should all feel compelled to confront, and that is why the 
Congressional Black Caucus wants to invest in education and job 
training, invest in transportation and infrastructure, invest in 
research and development, invest in technology and innovation, and 
invest in preserving the social safety net so that you can lift up 
communities left behind by the recession, but also collectively lift up 
America for the good of everyone.
  It is now my honor and my privilege to yield to the very 
distinguished gentleman from New York, a prominent member of the Ways 
and Means Committee, someone who has given so much of his life to 
public service and made such a difference for so many people in Harlem, 
in New York City, in the country, and, in fact, across the globe, the 
Lion of Lenox Avenue. I am proud to now yield to Congressman Charlie 
Rangel.
  Mr. RANGEL. I want to thank you so much for pulling together this 
special

[[Page 6290]]

hour. I got from New York a little late, and in working, I turned on 
the TV and saw these eloquent spokespeople, and I am just so glad I got 
here in time before our time has expired. So all of those that made 
this possible, it starts my new week down here with a breath of fresh 
air.
  Last Sunday, I participated in ceremonies at Grant's Tomb. That is 
General Grant. That is President Grant. And his great-great-grandson 
was there to speak on Grant's not wanting slavery. They even had a few 
people dressed up in Union uniforms, which I had not seen before. But 
at the conclusion of listening, just a few generations ago, this guy 
talking about General Grant and President Grant, it convinced me that 
in some parts of the United States of America, they don't believe that 
the Union won. The reason I come to that conclusion is that, as I never 
saw that many Union uniforms, I have never seen so many Confederate 
flags that represent groups that are proud of the fact that they call 
themselves the Tea Party. And then I was thinking, because it was a 
long ceremony, where do these Tea Party people, what areas of the 
country are they most comfortable? And I reached the conclusion they 
are from that part of the country that the States owned slaves. And 
then I thought, well, are they Democrats or Republicans? They used to 
be not only Democrats, but they fought against every civil rights bill 
we had here.
  I never thought in the 54 miles I marched with Dr. King from Selma to 
Montgomery that we ever would get the civil rights and the voting 
rights, but when we got it, somehow the Dixiecrats disappeared. And all 
of a sudden, they came up in the South as Republican, Republicans that 
really hate this President as much as their predecessors probably hated 
Abe Lincoln. And it was all about slavery--all about slavery. And if 
you go to the parts of South America and the Caribbean islands, Mexico, 
all you see are remnants of slavery--even Puerto Rico.
  But here in this country where we thought we had broken out of the 
Civil War, what the heck does it take for people to understand that you 
shouldn't hate the President so much that you are ready to destroy the 
Republican Party, the entire Congress, but most of all the people of 
this great country? We have been able to take people of all colors, all 
blood, all languages, and they didn't come here and just fall in love 
with each other. They hardly knew each other. But somehow they set 
aside these differences and in 300 or 400 years became the power of the 
world.
  That power just wasn't in dollars and cents and the ability to have 
more than any other country in wealth, but it was hope. It was the 
ability to believe that no matter what level of the economy you were 
in, you could achieve. This could not be said for many of the countries 
in Europe. That is why they loved their countries, but they cared more 
for their families here.
  And now we have millions of people whose complexions look more like 
the people who were here when Columbus so-called discovered them. And 
then you find a hatred which defies economics and sound politics 
against people who want to come to this country, who have invited 
constructively as we say in the law because they came, they got paid, 
everyone was happy, but the more that came, the more that wanted to 
come, their complexion started changing the complexion of the Nation.
  And why they refuse to allow the President to try to remove this 
cancer from America, why they don't understand that we just can't 
afford to destroy everything this country stands for? We are talking 
about immigration laws so that we can bring more talent. But, most of 
all, most of my colleagues, we are talking about education. How the 
heck can we allow party differences with the President to agree that we 
have got 2 million human beings locked up in jail? Most of them have--
the only people they ever hurt was themselves. The cost of keeping them 
incarcerated--cops, courts, food, and health care--is mind blowing 
compared to the infinitesimal fraction of America's education as paid 
to by this Congress. So much of the setbacks has to do with the stigma 
of having come from slaves rather than slave owners.
  But the thing is, if a nation like ours is going to maintain any 
degree of similarities, we have to all pull together and not be divided 
by color, sex or where a person has been born or the language that they 
speak.
  So I came over wondering what can 43 people of African background, 
combined with scores of people that have Latin American backgrounds, 
combined with so many other people that families can remember poverty 
and the pain of not being a part of the middle class, and to see this 
shrinking and missing a paycheck, a check on unemployment compensation, 
a month in rent, homelessness, being in shelters, not being able to get 
a job, losing your kids--man, that is pain. That is not America.
  So what can I do? Well, I am 84, and I guess I don't want to say 
anything that would jeopardize my getting to Heaven without any hassles 
with St. Peter and the rest of them up there. So I will make an appeal 
to the priests, the ministers, the rabbis, and the imams in saying that 
you deal with a higher authority. You deal with all people. God can't 
possibly have expected, when He would have us to believe we are made in 
His image, that He could be so many different colors. He is one in our 
mind as He used these colors to make the world.
  I want to hear their voices when we talk about education, hunger, 
nakedness, thirst, and being locked up and having some comfort, because 
that is what we are talking about today.
  So let me just thank you. We can't give up. We can't give in. We 
can't give out. We may not have an answer in this Chamber, but the will 
of America can change this Chamber, and we just have to have good 
people, whether they are in synagogues, mosques, or cathedrals, to call 
their Congressperson and say that this is not the time for our great 
Nation to be divided by class, color, or wealth. It is time for us to 
do what that sign says: ``In God we trust.'' And we have got to trust. 
We have got to fight, and we are going to win.
  Thank you for the opportunity for all of us to express ourselves.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentleman from New York for 
his incredibly eloquent, thoughtful, and insightful presentation and 
analysis.
  We have now been joined by a senior member of the Judiciary Committee 
and the Homeland Security Committee, a voice for the voiceless, someone 
who has fought to promote justice and equality across a wide spectrum 
of issues but certainly in the economic arena in such a compelling way 
during her career in the House and throughout her entire career in 
public service. Let me now yield to the distinguished gentlelady from 
Texas, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Let me thank the gentleman from New York for 
convening this dialogue with our colleagues and, through our 
colleagues, the American people and Mr. Horsford as well as the 
Congressional Black Caucus and the passionate words of our colleague, 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), and others who have come on 
this floor to challenge our colleagues.
  I think the backdrop of this whole discussion is the Ryan budget, 
which we debated before we left for the work recess. And I think it is 
important that we not allow that budget to just pass with a vote and 
let it not represent the moral document that now the Republicans have 
tied themselves to.
  Interestingly enough, while we were away, it seems that America 
caught on fire. For some reason, the season generated a number of 
unfortunate and sad incidents that really reinforce this wealth gap 
that is so very important.
  I have 10 points that I would like to succinctly mention in the 
backdrop of the Ryan budget, which cuts drastically the social network 
of America which really makes America great. Some of us had the 
opportunity to be in countries outside, countries as we were, during 
the recess, South and Central America, Europe and other places.

                              {time}  2115

  You come back to this country and you thank God for its greatness, 
and I

[[Page 6291]]

still do that. But I also know that it is great, or it was great, 
because people pull together and realize there is no shame in a social 
safety network because it was people of all backgrounds--Caucasians, 
Hispanics, African Americans and others--who were in this country who 
celebrated the creation of Social Security under Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt and Medicare and Medicaid back in the 1960s.
  This is the 50th year of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and so it is 
tragic that we still have to look at numbers that show the wealth 
inequality. It is more tragic that we compound this discrimination with 
ugly words that really suggest that there is a lack of understanding 
for why these numbers exist.
  I might say to Mr. Bundy, who suggested that government subsidies is 
all that African Americans receive, and that we would be better off as 
slaves with a garden and picking cotton: maybe if there had been a fair 
distribution of wealth at the end of slavery, as it was supposed to be, 
there would have been the investment in that now-free population where 
you could look at them and say, Why didn't you succeed?
  Well, if you read your history books, you know that we lived under a 
discriminatory society for much of the 20th century. And in actuality, 
there was not an equalizing or trying to equalize rights until the 
1960s.
  Even today, the decision that was just rendered on affirmative 
action, some people would shout for joy, but in actuality it undermines 
America's great quality, and that is diversity. It takes away from 
Hispanic and White students and African Americans students and Asian 
students an opportunity to go to school together, a very unfortunate 
decision in affirmative action, compounded, of course, by the 
atmosphere and the attitudes of the likes of the owner of the Clippers, 
who today, in 2014, suggests I don't want to be sitting next to, taking 
a picture with, don't promote it, whatever his heartbroken situation 
might have been with an ex-girlfriend, it still sets a tone that 
speaks, if you will, to the discrimination that exists in wealth.
  Some would say, how do you tie that together? We have to change our 
attitudes about all of us. And frankly, unemployment rates emphasize 
the discrimination in employment: African Americans, 12.4 percent and 
higher among young African American men; Hispanics 7.9 percent.
  I don't want unemployment in any group. I fight for full employment 
for everyone because I know that is what America is about, giving 
opportunity and creating the working middle class. That is what we 
should fight for, and I hope our discussion focuses on the fact that we 
want that to occur.
  Decline in wealth. We can clearly see that the decline in wealth has 
gone to some 53 percent in the African American community. And then of 
course bankruptcy filings; likewise, you can show that the highest 
amount is in African Americans.
  Let me conclude by simply saying the budget that Mr. Ryan has will 
never answer the question of solving the problem of lifting the boats 
of all Americans. I thank the gentleman for having yielded to me. The 
challenge tonight is clearly to find a solution that ends the evilness 
of racism, but more importantly lifts the boats of all of our fellow 
Americans because they deserve the kind of equality and wealth 
opportunity that goes for poor Whites, Hispanics, African Americans, 
and Asians. A solution must be found.


                              key messages

  The median wealth of White households is 20 times that of African 
American households. Put differently, African Americans own just five 
cents for every dollar of wealth whites own.
  Buying a home is the single largest investment most families can 
make.
  Asset accumulation is the foundation to economic mobility for low- 
and middle-income families.
  Public--such as Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment 
Insurance--and private assets are important for the economic security 
of communities of color.
  Investing in assets and limiting debt can help families build wealth 
and improve their financial security.
  Families of color lack the necessary savings and assets to climb up 
the economic ladder.
  This wide gap in wealth between families of color and White families 
is a reflection of systemic and social barriers that have limited 
economic mobility.
  Along with a history of discrimination, communities of color face 
obstacles getting a good job or using banks to save for future 
investments.
  Public policy--rooted in historical discrimination--created the 
racial wealth gap and it will take public policy to overcome economic 
inequities.
  The national budget is a primary vehicle through which public assets 
are protected and strengthened.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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