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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 198 Introduced in House (IH)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 198

  Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States has a moral 
     responsibility to meet the needs of those persons, groups and 
   communities that are impoverished, disadvantaged or otherwise in 
                                poverty.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 1, 2007

   Ms. Lee (for herself, Mr. Baca, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Conyers, Mr. 
    Ellison, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Hare, Mr. Honda, Ms. Kilpatrick, Mr. 
   McGovern, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Solis, Ms. Watson, and Ms. Woolsey) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
            the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
  Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States has a moral 
     responsibility to meet the needs of those persons, groups and 
   communities that are impoverished, disadvantaged or otherwise in 
                                poverty.

Whereas poverty is a deep, structural problem that implicates our value system 
        and our educational and economic institutions;
Whereas a widely acknowledged definition of poverty is the lack of basic 
        necessities of life such as food, shelter, clothing, health care, 
        education, security, and opportunity;
Whereas policy initiatives addressing poverty have not kept pace with the needs 
        of millions of Americans;
Whereas the failure of America's ability to meet the needs of its poorest was 
        acutely seen during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma in August 2005;
Whereas many experts believe that the lack of an equitable distribution of 
        housing choices across the country leads to isolation and concentrated 
        poverty that makes low-income individuals and families vulnerable to 
        catastrophic natural or man-made disasters like the Gulf Coast 
        hurricanes;
Whereas the economic disparities that have exacerbated restoration of 
        impoverished communities in the Gulf Coast region continue to persist in 
        the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina;
Whereas the number of Americans living in poverty has risen by over 5,000,000 
        since 2000;
Whereas there were 37 million Americans living in poverty in 2005;
Whereas the official poverty rate in 2005 was 12.6 percent;
Whereas 24.9 percent of African Americans, 21.8 percent of Hispanics, 25.3 
        percent of Native Americans, 10.9 percent of Asian Americans, and 8.3 
        percent of Whites lived in poverty in the United States in 2005;
Whereas in 2005 a family of 4 was considered poor under the U.S. Census Bureau's 
        official measure if the family's income was below $19,971;
Whereas the poverty rate for children 18 years and younger (17.6 percent) 
        remained higher than that of 18-24 year-olds (11.1 percent) and that of 
        people 65 and older (10.1 percent) in 2005;
Whereas the number in poverty increased for people 65 and older by almost 
        400,000 since 2000; and
Whereas in international poverty comparisons, a common approach is to ask what 
        share of the population has income below 50 percent of the Nation's 
        median income. Using this measure the United States poverty rate at the 
        turn of the 21st century ranked 24th of 25 countries, with only Mexico 
        having a higher percentage rate: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that the United States should set a 
national goal of cutting poverty in half over the next 10 years using a 
strategy that promotes good jobs at livable wages.
                                 <all>
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