Date: 2011-09-21
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 2943. "The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Extension Act." which extends the authorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) state block grant program for three months. through December 31. 2011. Under current law. the programs authorization is set to expire on October 1. 2011. at the end of FY 2011. H.R. 2943 authorizes "such sums as may be necessary" to carry out the program at the same level as FY 2011 or $16.48 billion according to CRS and extends funding for the basic block grant. healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood competitive grants. mandatory child care grants. and certain other funds. As Chair of the Congressional Childrens Caucus. I am keenly aware that the youngest among us often suffers the most when programs. like TANF. are underfunded. We must take a proactive role in protecting children from lives of abject poverty. I represent the 18th Congressional district in Houston. Texas. In my district. more than 190.000 people live below the poverty line. Programs like TANF are vital to these families. At a time when the Census Bureau places the number of Americans living in poverty at the highest rate in over 50 years. Across our nation the poverty rate has climbed to 14.3 percent in 2009. the highest level since 1994 and is likely to continue to climb. At this time children are again bearing the brunt. more than one in five children lived in families with incomes under the official poverty level which was $22.050 for a family of four in 2009. Similarly more than one in five children lived in households that did not always have the resources to purchase food. In 2008. there were 15.45 million impoverished children in the nation. 20.7% of Americas youth. Further. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that there are currently 5.6 million Texans living in poverty. 2.2 million of them children. and that 17.4% of households in the state struggle with food insecurity. Many people assume that Texas was not hit as hard by the recession as other states because our unemployment rate is still below the national average. While our unemployment rate is low compared to the U.S. (8.2 versus 9.8 percent. respectively. in November 2010). it is still nearly double where it stood in November 2007 (4.4 percent). In fact. Texas unemployment rate has been around 8 percent for the last 16 months. which is extremely high given Texas recent history. This has resulted in nearly one in three Texas children living with a parent who does not have a fulltime. yearround job. making them particularly vulnerable. When a household falls into poverty. children are exposed to increased parental distress. inadequate childcare arrangements. and poor nutrition. In past recessions. it took many years for employment and incomes to rebound. and lowincome families rebound more slowly than others. Public benefits such as TANF help families bridge the gaps in difficult economic times and are critical in reducing the effects of a recession. Cutting these supports will hurt child and family wellbeing and damage the Texas economy by taking money out of the private economy for critical local businesses such as grocery stores and medical providers. Although TANF is not perfect. I believe that is an essential part of the safety net for very lowincome families with children. These benefits do not provide families with the ability to live a lavish life style. they do provide a life line to families at a critical time in their lives. such as periods of unemployment or disability. or when a newborn joins a family. The goal of TANF is to be a temporary safety net and to help families in need to regain their balance. when a hard time causes them to lose their balance. TANF provides access to paths out of poverty through services such as job training or counseling for mental health issues. State also uses the block grants for a wide range of work supports. including child care and transportation. For these reasons I support H.R. 2943.