IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 985 

Expressing the moral responsibility of Congress to end adult and child poverty 

in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 28, 2020 

Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. 

HASTINGS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RUSH, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. GARCIA

of Texas, Ms. MOORE, and Ms. JOHNSON of Texas) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 

Reform 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the moral responsibility of Congress to end adult 

and child poverty in the United States. 

Whereas poverty is an immoral and economic stain on our 

Nation and needs to be addressed; 

Whereas the poverty rate in the United States, the wealthiest 

nation in the world, continues to rank among the highest 

when compared to other developed nations; 

Whereas according to the ‘‘Poor People’s Moral Budget: Everybody Has the Right to Live’’, 140 million Americans 

are poor or one emergency away from being poor; 


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Whereas in 2018, 38.1 million people including 11.9 million 

children were living in poverty based on the Official Poverty Measure (OPM); 

Whereas 1 in 6 children live in poverty and more than 5 million of these children lived in extreme poverty, at less 

than half the poverty level, and nearly 3 in 4 poor children were children of color; 

Whereas child poverty creates gaps in cognitive skills for very 

young children, puts children at greater risk of hunger 

and homelessness, jeopardizes their health and ability to 

learn, and fuels the intergenerational cycle of poverty; 

Whereas communities of color face disproportionate rates of 

poverty and inequality; 

Whereas approximately 8.9 million Black, 10.5 million 

Latinx, 2 million Asian, and 2.1 million Native and Indigenous people live in poverty in the United States; 

Whereas income inequality is the worst it has been in five 

decades; 

Whereas more than 21.4 million women lived in poverty in 

2018, with women of color, women with disabilities, and 

older women facing higher rates of poverty than women 

overall; 

Whereas the top 10 percent of United States households own 

70 percent of the country’s total wealth and those in the 

bottom 50 percent saw no increase in their wealth over 

the past 30 years; 

Whereas in 2018, 37.2 million people, including 11.2 million 

children, were deemed food insecure, including the 10 

million people living in 5.6 million households defined by 

the Department of Agriculture as very food insecure, a 

number virtually unchanged since 2017; 


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Whereas if COVID–19 incidences continue as projected 

through this year and next, the number of people experiencing food insecurity in 2020 would increase by over 17 

million, including nearly 7 million children, which means 

54 million people (1 in 6) would experience food insecurity in 2020, including 18 million children (1 in 4); 

Whereas the Federal minimum wage has not changed from 

$7.25 per hour since 2009, and Federal law has allowed 

employers to pay tipped workers just $2.13 per hour 

since 1991; 

Whereas the value of the minimum wage has declined in real 

terms by more than 30 percent since 1968; 

Whereas the Official Poverty Measure (OPM) does not adequately capture sufficient needs for families to cover 

food, housing, utilities, and childcare expenses; 

Whereas 62 million workers in the United States work for 

less than a living wage; 

Whereas over 200,000 people with disabilities work for a subminimum wage; 

Whereas the United States does not require a national minimum paid sick time standard, and therefore working 

adults without paid sick leave are three times more likely 

to have incomes below the poverty line; 

Whereas fewer than 40 percent have access to paid medical 

leave to address a serious illness or injury through employer-provided short-term disability insurance, and fewer 

than 60 percent are eligible to take unpaid FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act), leaving millions of workers 

and families just 1 accident or illness away from economic devastation; 


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Whereas approximately 5.2 million workers are working in involuntary part-time jobs when they would prefer full-time 

jobs; 

Whereas millions of people working in hourly jobs have unstable, unpredictable work schedules that do not give 

them the notice and input they need to plan their lives 

and care for their families; 

Whereas ‘‘fissuring’’ of the workplace, has resulted in more 

subcontracted, temporary, and 1099 positions that lack 

benefits and workplace protections, leading to greater 

economic precarity for low-wage workers; 

Whereas according to the 2018 Federal Reserve report on the 

economic wellbeing of United States households, 4 in 10 

Americans say they are not able to cover an unexpected 

expense of $400; 

Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic may exacerbate poverty, 

especially for children, and has exposed the shortcomings 

of the United States economic system and social safety 

net; 

Whereas if adequate measures are not taken to help Americans during the COVID–19 pandemic, the Center on 

Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University 

projects that 21 million more individuals will be in poverty, the highest recorded rate of poverty since 1967; 

Whereas according to the same Columbia University report, 

child poverty could rise by 53 percent with Black and 

Latino children bearing a disproportionate risk of falling 

into or deeper into poverty; 

Whereas, as of May 21, 2020, 38.6 million Americans have 

filed for unemployment since mid-March because busiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR985.IH HR985

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nesses have shut down or reduced their payroll in response to the COVID–19 pandemic; 

Whereas economic distress faced during the COVID–19 pandemic will disproportionately impact women, workingclass people, children, and Black and Brown communities; 

Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic threatens to drastically increase poverty for children and families; 

Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic is disrupting children’s 

daily lives and there are likely to be long-term and negative consequences for child development and future success; 

Whereas low-income children and families are often the targets of discrimination based on their socioeconomic status 

as well as other social indicators such as race or ethnicity, immigration status, ability, sex, sexual orientation, 

and gender identity; 

Whereas low-income families pay nearly 35 percent of their 

income on childcare compared to middle-class families 

who pay roughly 14 percent of their income on childcare; 

Whereas poverty has lasting effects on a child’s neural and 

functional brain development and mental health; 

Whereas poverty exacerbates the student achievement rate 

and schools remain economically segregated; 

Whereas child poverty costs the United States between $800 

billion and $1.1 trillion annually; 

Whereas protecting children against the lifelong consequences 

of poverty will improve their life and reduce child poverty 

in future generations; 


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Whereas poverty exacerbates the student achievement rate 

and many schools remain economically and racially segregated; 

Whereas school districts with high poverty rates often receive 

the least amount of funding; 

Whereas the number of students experiencing poverty and 

homelessness has increased by 11 percent; 

Whereas LGBTQ+ students face poverty and homelessness 

because they are forced to leave their homes because of 

their sexual or gender identity; 

Whereas according to the Department of Education, 1.5 million school-aged children experienced homelessness during 

the 2017–2018 school year; 

Whereas many low-income children and families do not receive the full value of the current Child Tax Credit 

(CTC) as it leaves behind 23 million children, including 

50 percent of Black and Latino Children; 

Whereas to reduce child poverty long term, children also need 

access to affordable, comprehensive physical and behavioral health care, affordable high-quality early development and learning opportunities, high performing schools 

and colleges, and families and neighborhoods free from 

violence; 

Whereas 29 percent of Americans skipped refilling their prescriptions because of high costs, and 26 percent struggled 

to pay medical bills; 

Whereas more than half a million people experience poverty 

and homelessness on any given night, a number which 

has increased over the past two years; 


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Whereas the criminal-legal system contributes to a cycle of 

poverty by issuing court-imposed fines and fees and 

threatening imprisonment for minor infractions and civil 

violations; 

Whereas according to the Prison Policy Initiative, families 

spend almost $2.9 billion on exorbitant commissary costs 

and phone calls to support their incarcerated loved ones; 

Whereas formerly incarcerated people face barriers to employment, housing, and social support programs after release and access to higher education, adult education, 

and workforce development training opportunities after 

release; 

Whereas nearly 1 in 2 United States children have at least 

1 parent with a criminal record, and the barriers associated with a parent’s record can stunt a child’s cognitive 

development, school performance, and educational attainment; 

Whereas children in immigrant families make up one-quarter 

of all children in the United States, and are more likely 

to face systemic barriers to accessing economic and nutrition supports that can aid their health and development; 

Whereas globally, people living in areas with high concentrations of poverty will be disproportionately impacted by 

climate change; 

Whereas voter suppression and lack of access to voting, including early voting or alternative methods, leads to a 

disproportionate underrepresentation of low-income people; 

Whereas the United States should redistribute wealth and 

Federal assistance to reduce poverty and increase economic opportunity; 


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Whereas an investment of $24.4 billion per year in K–12 

schools and teachers could start to boost academic performance among poor and struggling children for about 

the same cost as a wall at the southern border of the 

United States; 

Whereas for every $1 invested in early childhood education, 

society would gain $7.30 due to reduced poverty, lower 

incarceration rates, and better health outcomes; 

Whereas addressing climate change with a $200 billion per 

year investment in a clean energy transition would reduce 

poverty by creating 2.7 million new jobs; 

Whereas raising income tax rates by 1 percent in the top 2 

income brackets would raise about $125 billion over 10 

years that can be used in assistance for people living in 

poverty; 

Whereas ending mass incarceration and instead adopting a 

Justice Reinvestment model could save up to $4 billion 

that can be used to invest in people living in poverty; and 

Whereas simple trade-offs in our budget could fund critical, 

equitable policy changes towards establishing a moral 

economy: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) acknowledges that budgets are moral docu3 ments that reflect our values as a Nation; 

4 (2) acknowledges that child poverty robs our 

5 Nation of a child’s full potential and prevents mil6 lions of children from reaching healthy development 

7 and an economically secure future; 


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1 (3) supports passing policy provisions to reduce 

2 adult and child poverty, racial disparities, income 

3 and wealth inequality, and increase of opportunity 

4 for all; 

5 (4) supports policies to help reduce child pov6 erty by increasing wages for working families, im7 proving tax credits to ensure more low-income chil8 dren and families benefit, expanding subsidized jobs 

9 with special attention to the needs of young adults 

10 disconnected from school and work, and providing 

11 access to quality, reliable childcare; 

12 (5) encourages the Federal Government, States, 

13 and cities to enact robust antipoverty policies and to 

14 create new, innovative solutions to eliminate poverty; 

15 (6) acknowledges that too few resources have 

16 been allocated by the Federal Government to help 

17 end poverty for children and families; 

18 (7) acknowledges that poverty was created and 

19 sustained by humans, including policymakers, and 

20 that we can choose to end it; 

21 (8) affirms that ending poverty, especially for 

22 our Nation’s children, is a moral and economic im23 perative; 

24 (9) affirms immigration status is not a means 

25 to deny basic need programs; 


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1 (10) supports increased funding for and 

2 strengthening of basic need programs like the sup3 plemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), 

4 temporary assistance for needy families (TANF), the 

5 Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit 

6 (EITC), and housing assistance especially during the 

7 COVID–19 pandemic; 

8 (11) supports comprehensive health care that 

9 should be available and affordable to everyone in the 

10 United States during the COVID–19 pandemic; 

11 (12) supports the strengthening of robust un12 employment insurance and paid leave policies to pro13 tect workers, especially during the COVID–19 pan14 demic; 

15 (13) reaffirms that a criminal record is no 

16 longer a life sentence to poverty for tens of millions 

17 of justice-involved individuals and their families, and 

18 supports automatically clearing criminal records 

19 once a person has completed the sentence imposed; 

20 and 

21 (14) accepts climate change as an accelerator 

22 towards poverty and a threat to shared prosperity 

23 that demands investment in a clean energy transi24 tion to help create jobs. 

Æ 


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