IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 971 
Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the War on Poverty and 
acknowledging its shortcomings. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 17, 2024 
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. JOHNSON 
of Georgia, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. THOMPSON
of Mississippi, Mrs. 
PELTOLA, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. 
NORTON, Mr. MCGARVEY, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. 
CARTER of Louisiana, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. TRONE, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. 
ADAMS, Ms. WILSON of Florida, and Ms. OMAR) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Ac-
countability 
RESOLUTION 
Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the War on Poverty 
and acknowledging its shortcomings. 
Whereas, 60 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson de-
clared an unconditional War on Poverty in his first State 
of the Union Address on January 8, 1964; 
Whereas the War on Poverty sought to address the high rate 
of poverty in the United States, including by imple-
menting measures to prevent poverty; 
Whereas the War on Poverty was defined by the 1964 Eco-
nomic Opportunity Act which created the Office of Eco-
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•HRES 971 IH 
nomic Opportunity to focus Federal attention and admin-
istration of antipoverty initiatives; 
Whereas the War on Poverty permanently codified the Sup-
plemental Nutrition Assistance Program in 1964 and 
other critical food assistance programs; 
Whereas the War on Poverty implemented one of the biggest 
reformations in education policy through the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965; 
Whereas the War on Poverty created Medicare and Medicaid 
through the Social Security Amendments of 1965; 
Whereas the War on Poverty established the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development and what would be-
come the Department of Health and Human Services; 
Whereas poverty declined by 30 percent within 5 years after 
the War on Poverty was declared and the country was on 
track to effectively end poverty within two decades; 
Whereas subsequent progress has been incomplete and some-
times temporary, in part due to the failure of economic 
growth to deliver widely shared prosperity; 
Whereas the Johnson administration rejected calls for a guar-
anteed income and former Presidents of both parties have 
acknowledged limited income security initiatives as a 
shortcoming of the War on Poverty; 
Whereas the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Free-
dom brought nationwide attention to issues of poverty by 
fighting for economic justice through guaranteed employ-
ment, education, and guaranteed housing as means to en-
sure a minimum living standard for all; 
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Whereas the War on Poverty failed to address ensuring fair 
and good jobs for all who can work and failed to ade-
quately prepare people for the workforce; 
Whereas the United States has the highest incidence of low- 
paid work among the wealthiest nations; 
Whereas antipoverty legislation has not adapted to the pov-
erty landscape today and has not followed through on the 
successes of the War on Poverty; and 
Whereas the 2021 fully refundable child tax credit cut chil-
dren’s poverty in half for that year, and thus proved that 
there are policy options that the Federal Government is 
failing to use: Now therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) commemorates the 60th anniversary of 
President Lyndon B. Johnson’s declared War on 
Poverty; 
(2) acknowledges that the War on Poverty was 
a resolute effort to decrease poverty and laid the 
groundwork to create an equitable and prosperous 
society for all Americans; 
(3) acknowledges that the War on Poverty had 
shortcomings that need to be rectified; 
(4) acknowledges that the shortcomings of the 
War on Poverty disproportionately affect racial mi-
norities and those low on the socioeconomic ladder; 
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(5) acknowledges that as long as poverty exists, 
citizens will not be able to take full advantage of op-
portunities in the United States; 
(6) recognizes that poverty is harmful to the 
economy and results in lost economic productivity; 
(7) encourages the Federal Government to con-
tinue to undo harmful policies that have kept Ameri-
cans in poverty, such as reforming the criminal jus-
tice system, making education affordable and acces-
sible, and guaranteeing housing and other basic ben-
efits; and 
(8) calls upon the Federal Government to con-
tinue to address poverty in the United States by 
building upon and extending the framework of the 
War on Poverty. 
Æ 
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