IV 

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; 


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•HCON 198 IH 

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 yearVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:12 Aug 03, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC198.IH HC198

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•HCON 198 IH 

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 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that the 

3 United States should set a national goal of cutting poverty 

4 in half over the next 10 years using a strategy that pro5 motes good jobs at livable wages. 

Æ 


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