Date: 2011-11-14
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands for her leadership. and Im delighted to join her in what I think is an enormously important discussion. Oftentimes. Congresswoman. we dont get a chance to have this kind of discussion when we are debating bills on the floor of the House. So let me. first of all. add again to your statistics. The more we can recite for people what the problem is. the better off we are. So you will see us standing over the next couple of days and weeks. and isnt it interesting as we approach Thanksgiving and then the Christmas holiday for many of us. and holidays in different names. Chanukah for many. and many other kinds of celebratory holidays that call upon fellowship and food to realize how many are impoverished in this Nation. So Im delighted to stand with the Congressional Black Caucus. our friend. Congresswoman BARBARA LEE. our chairperson. Chairman CLEAVER. and yourself to firmly stand committed to combating poverty. eliminating hunger. and providing health insurance for all citizens. Let me just say in light of that. the Supreme Court indicated that they will take up the health care bill. But Im going to join some pundits and take a risk and say its going to be upheld. I know there is a lot of rubbing of the hands and excitement because they see in the eyesight the death knell for the Affordable Care Act. But the good news is that one of the judges that upheld the Affordable Care Act was a conservative judge who analyzed our right to require individuals to have insurance for the greater goodthats not the legal interpretation. And I believe there is sufficient numbers on the court that will look beyond politics and realize that the heavy burden of health care is a heavy burden on the economy. And if you are a conservative. you will look more closely at individual responsibility. Thats what the Affordable Care Act is. along with preventive care and protecting children. So Im going to be an optimist. and Im looking forward to the Supreme Courts decision. But our numbers show one of every six Americans is living in poverty. a total of 46.2 million people. This is the highest number in 17 years in a country with so many resources. And youve heard me say this before. our country is not broke. It can belt tighten. It can move dollars around. Im glad that the Congressional Black Caucus that is talking about create. protect. and rebuild has the answers. Let me just say that children represent a disproportionate amount of the United States poor population. I chair the Congressional Childrens Caucus. In 2008. there were 15.45 million impoverished children in the Nation. 20.7 percent of Americas youth. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that there are currently 5.6 million Texans living in poverty. 2.2 million of them are children. and 17.4 percent of households in the State struggle with food insecurity. In my district alone. the 18th Congressional District. a very historic district. there are 190.000 people living below the poverty line. the highest number of people living in poverty in 17 years. and then we are thinking about cutting vital social services such as the supplemental excess. SNAP program. that fed 3.9 million residents of Texas in April 2011. the WIC program. and the Census Bureau also reported that there are 49.9 million people in the country without health insurance. Weve already discussed that. And Texas happens to be the State with the highest number count. All of that. and youre literally taking the front door. if there is one. opening the door and kicking people to the street. I just want to deviate for a moment as I go over some very important aspects that I think. joining with the Congressional Black Caucus. that if they would only listen. if you would only listen. I believe would move us on a pathway of creating jobs. just as we spoke about in the jobs tour that we participated in this summer. But I want to be very clear. the Second Mile in Pennsylvania was labeled as an organization that dealt with atrisk children. Those are poor children. Some might ask: Where is she going here? They are the most vulnerable. They are the most needy. And because those children were vulnerable. because those parents were vulnerable. because they were looking for relief. looking for a child to have some sort of. if you will. activity and comfort. maybe even foodIm sure those programs and trips out of town might have also had resources that children do not havewhen a child is vulnerable. they become a target for the most heinous of acts. If I might deviate and indicate that I intend to introduce legislation on two counts. one to suspend any Federal funding to any entity. academic. nonprofit. State and local government. prosecutors office that has covered up and not prosecuted or not reported the sexual abuse of a child. excluding if it is an academic institution. funding for scholarships and Pell Grants. and to also indicate funding. ramping up funding. for the Department of Justice for anyone who carries a child over State lines for the intent of sexually abusing a child. What an untoward national image and international image we have just gotten. I dont worry about football. Im not interested in the State. Im not interested in the particular academic institution. Im not pointing fingers. and I dont know the coachs name. I just know that in the course of the activity of this alleged perpetrator. there may be many more vulnerable. poor children which were talking about tonight. the most impoverished. and that one person. among others. saw a physical sexual act and did nothing about it. And so poverty is not only a family not having enough to eat. maybe not having clothing. maybe not having a place to live. but it also means it puts a child in the most horrible. horrific of conditions. almost to the extent. even though you would say that the predator is sick. but it puts that vulnerable childbecause that parent may be vulnerable. that parent may not be home. They may be a loving parent. They may be struggling with three jobs. and they need a place for their child. The child may need the comfort and nurturing of an adult. and that child then becomes a victim. So dont think that were standing here and arguing against poverty just to be arguing. It is a systemic atmosphere and condition that will allow you to be victimized. Let me go to the supercommittee as I talk about what the CBC. Congressional Black Caucus. is looking at. I will follow the quotes of some I have heard who testified before the committee. I had the privilege of sitting in on one meeting. not very long. and I think they are dedicated Members of Congress. But we must know that this is not in the regular order. This was out of the order. and it came about through the forced need to lift the debt ceiling. In essence. we were taken hostage. So. frankly. Im going to suggest that the supercommittee yield. They can go through the 23rd. but. in essence. accept the inevitable that there will be no agreement and that this Congress come back in 2012. because we have until 2013 for the sequestration. come back in 2012 and do our business and respond to the suggestions of the Congressional Black Caucus and legislation that many of us have introduced to create jobs. to balance the revenue. and do our work. And so I want to suggest that there are many programs. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program has been touted all over America. What it does is it brings dollars into depressed areas where these vulnerable children live. and it provides stabilization dollars. making good on 100.000 properties with $7 billion. and it allows these properties to be restored for families. In the course of doing that. you create jobs and you dont have these big signs that say. "Foreclosure." And then. of course. the National Housing Trust. if Congress can provide at least a billion dollars to fund the National Housing Trust. which is a mechanism for affordable housing. When a child has a room. a light. a desk. and a bed and that family feels comfortable. they are less vulnerable to sexual predators. to not having resources. to being thrown to the wolves. if you will. And it will create 15.000 jobs. Unemployment insurance that many of us have worked on and joined Congresswoman LEE and Congressman SCOTT to extend to the 99ers and to make sure that they can put bread on their table. pay their light bill and get gas to go look for a job. it will save 500.000 jobs500.000 jobs. Why is no one listening? Its a simple process. And has anyone heard of a country moving forward without investment in its people? And thats what we are arguing. Very quickly. we have supported this for so long. No one will listen. Everybody that is outsourcing is taxed. and that will generate resources that will allow us to invest back into the Treasury. Then we can invest in the National Housing Trust. We can invest in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. We can invest in the 99ers. and we can provide money to those who are in need. Give a tax holiday for the first $20.000 on payroll tax. which will provide the opportunity for small businesses and put income in. if you will. the pockets of many who are in need. who week to week make ends meet and are very much in need of that. As well. to help those who have been chronically unemployed. to not discriminate against them but to give a payroll tax holiday in order to hire the chronically unemployed. so when they see "Help wanted." they will be excited about hiring someone because they have that benefit. By the way. can we make an announcement here? We are not broke. Companies have trillions of dollars in their bank accounts. and so do the banks. but they keep saying to us theyre afraid to invest and let the money go because its not a stable economy. How much louder do I have to say its a chicken and egg? Hire people. Thats a stable economy. They invest back into the economy. they begin to buy things. and then you begin to manufacture. Its a chicken and egg. Its the cart and the horse.