Date: 2014-01-27
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Let me thank the distinguished coleader of the task force in presenting our case to the American people. the distinguished gentleman from New Yorkand I say it with great affection and respectand his coleader. Mr. HORSFORD. the distinguished gentleman from Nevada. Let me quickly indicate that income equality has been raised by the Congressional Black Caucus and the Task Force on Poverty through our chairwoman. the Honorable MARCIA FUDGE. my colleague. BARBARA LEE. myself and others through the yearsone might offer to say decadeand you will hear from our other members. The distinguished dean of New York gave the history. I know the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey is on the floor. as well as our southern anchor. Representative Mr. G.K. BUTTERFIELD. Again. we also have New York. New Yorks Representative. YVETTE CLARKE. I think our members are here because we come from far and wide. Income inequality refers to the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among the population. In the United States. income inequality. or the gap between rich and poor. has been growing markedly for some 30 years. U.S. income inequality has been rising steadily over the past four decades. Let me emphasize to my colleagues that it is reaching levels not seen since the 1920s. and for those of us who read the history books. we know of the financial collapse leading to the Depression of that era. That is frightening. In the midst of that discussion. we are hearing babble or conversation about reducing the debt and closing the deficit. when we have decidedly made a mark on that over the last decade. We did so with President Obamas fixing and working to turn Wall Street back on its feet. We did it with the stimulus package which infused dollars into the economy. We fixed the mortgage meltdown. and so now we find that houses are being sold and banks want to be able to relax how they give money to their various clients that are seeking to buy a house. We are at a point where we need to stop talking about the deficit and the debtwhich is closingand the debt going down. and start talking about investing in America and closing the horror of wealth inequality. Somebody is going to understand from whence they came and know that America was always a place where someone without shoes could walk into the opportunities and the sunlight of opportunity. Lyndon Baines Johnsons history tells of how very poor he was growing up after the loss of income from his father. It was on his mind that people who are poor should not be treated with indignity. So one of the biggest factors driving the increase in income inequality since 2000 is the stagnation of the typical American household in terms of income. We need to raise the minimum wage. We need to stop blaming poor people and suggesting that their condition is their own. There are studies by the University of Wisconsin and the University of Kentucky. and let me give the facts. A lowwage job supplemented with food stamps is becoming more common for the working poor. They have a job. and yet they have to get food stamps. That is not their desire. They are working people. They want to be respected for their work. Many of the U.S. jobs now being created are lowincome or minimum wage. parttime. or in areas such as retail or fast food. Yes. jobs. We dont denigrate them. but it brings about the highest level of income inequality. And then. on top of it. we are cutting billions from food stamps. As I told you. a young lady in Texas makes $10 an hour working to be able to provide for her family. Without shame. she has to get on food stamps. and since 2009. 50 percent of the individuals getting food stamps are working. That is a point that we should realize. We need to increase the minimum wage. and we realize that the highest number of high school graduates head the bulk of the food stamp households. but college graduates or those who have had some college are also on food stamps. Income inequality: as recently as 1998. the working age of a share of food stamp households was at 44. It is now up to 50. Let me say we are finding ourselves in an economy of globalization. automation. and outsourcing. I would like to work with my Republican friends on curing that diseasethe disease of outsourcing. giving up peoples jobs. and cutting down on manufacturingwhich. in actuality. under President Obama. we have been able to surge up. I would like them to look at legislation that says if you are chronically unemployed. you can get training. You can get a credit and you get the unemployment. and you dont have to touch that. But you get a training credit or a stipend to change your life. The young lady in this newspaper article is trying to save money to be able to get paramedic training. She wanted to be a nurse. She had to drop out because of the lack of money. What are we doing about people like that? Let me close. Mr. JEFFRIES. with the CNN commentary. or CNN programing. The individual that gave these words was a prominent wealthy gentleman who is a senior citizen. I have a great respect for senior citizens. I really do. They are all over my district. But I hope that we dont have to come to a time that the idea of trying to balance wealth inequality gets you accused of being like Nazis. My heart is broken to able to think that someone would misconstrue the idea of helping this young 25yearold suffering with low wages and trying to close the income gap to a ridiculous comparison as that. Freedom of speech. of course. but that is ridiculous. Let me show this form as my final expression here. We are still fighting to get unemployment benefits. The numbers have gone past 1.9 million. and let me be very clear that four out of five beneficiaries have at least one other adult in the household. Many support children. single adults. multiple adults in the household. These people need an unemployment insurance extension for basic benefits. and we cant even do it. And we used to do it on an emergency basis in the same breath as talking about debt and deficit. We need to invest in Americas people. We need infrastructure to create jobs and close the wealth inequality. Onehalf of the people who need an unemployment insurance extension have at least some college. Nine in 10 live in households with total income of less than $75.000 a year. They need that bridge to keep them going. and shamefully. unfortunately. we have not done that. So I want to thank the gentleman for giving me the opportunity. I feel bipartisanship coming from my colleagues as they begin to talk on the floor. and that bipartisanship wants to have an increase in the minimum wage. to make it a livable wage. pass the emergency unemployment insurance. and have a reconsideration. Even though I know there is a conference bill. we just cant cut food stamps to those who are suffering. I want to thank the gentleman. I look forward to investing in jobs that will be equal in income. I look forward to dealing with making automation work for those who want to work. technology work for those who want to work. closing the outsourcing gap and boosting manufacturing to give hardworking Americans who want something more than unemployment. but need it now. who want something more than lowskilled jobs. but need jobs now. and want something more than having to get food stamps. but need it now. to be able to close this heinous income inequality that is plaguing America. It is an epidemic that we must fight with every bit of our breath.