IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 198 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States has a moral responsi-
bility 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 re-
ferred 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 insti-
tutions; 
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 oppor-
tunity; 
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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-in-
come individuals and families vulnerable to catastrophic 
natural or man-made disasters like the Gulf Coast hurri-
canes; 
Whereas the economic disparities that have exacerbated res-
toration 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 per-
cent 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 in-
come 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- 
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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 ap-
proach 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, there-
fore, 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 pro-
motes good jobs at livable wages. 
Æ 
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