•HRES 621 IH 
percent of such funds to activities that primarily benefit 
low- and moderate-income persons; 
Whereas in 2005— 
(1) there were 37,000,000 people in the United 
States living in poverty; 
(2) the poverty rate (the percentage of the total pop-
ulation of the United States living in poverty) was 12.6 
percent, but the poverty rate for African-Americans was 
24.9 percent (9,200,000 persons) and for Hispanics was 
21.8 percent (9,400,000 persons); 
(3) 12,300,000 children (17.1 percent) were living in 
poverty; and 
(4) the poverty rate of persons 65 years of age or 
older was 10.1 percent (3,600,000 persons); 
Whereas the incidence of poverty is more highly concentrated 
in some areas of the United States than in others; within 
metropolitan areas, the incidence of poverty in central 
city areas is about twice as high as in suburban areas, 
17.0 percent compared to 9.3 percent, respectively, in 
2005; 
Whereas the CDBG program has been responsible for elimi-
nating and preventing slums and blight and for reducing 
poverty and crime in our Nation’s communities; 
Whereas the CDBG program has met urgent community de-
velopment needs where existing conditions posed a seri-
ous or immediate threat to the public; 
Whereas the CDBG program has been used to meet the ‘‘ur-
gent threat’’ resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; 
Whereas despite a decline in funding for the CDBG program 
from 
$4,400,000,000 
for 
fiscal 
year 
2001 
to 
$3,700,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, thereby placing a 
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•HRES 621 IH 
major burden on communities with high incidences of 
poverty to utilize CDBG funds to meet the needs of low- 
and moderate-income persons, it is particularly important 
that States and entitlement communities receiving CDBG 
funds continue to fund projects that alleviate poverty; 
and 
Whereas funds provided by the CDBG program are essential 
to States and entitlement communities for carrying out 
activities that reduce poverty, yet in the past two years 
more than 5,000,000 low- and moderate-income persons 
have been adversely impacted by significant reductions in 
services as a result of cuts in CDBG funding: Now there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) fully supports the goals of the community 
development block grant program of the Department 
of Housing and Urban Development; 
(2) recognizes the importance of the community 
development block grant program in reducing pov-
erty and strengthening communities in the United 
States; and 
(3) as part of the Congress’s dedication to con-
tinued efforts on the part of States and entitlement 
communities to make further reductions in poverty, 
strongly urges such entities to review their alloca-
tions of CDBG funds to ensure that special empha-
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•HRES 621 IH 
sis is placed on using such funds to eliminate pov-
erty. 
Æ 
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