Date: 2011-07-21
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I would like to particularly thank the Out of Poverty Caucus: Congresswoman LEE. Congressmen TOWNS. CONYERS. HONDA. and a number of other Members who have joined that caucus and all of us who are here on the floor who are members of that caucus and who believe that this could not be a more important time. A few days ago. I got on the floor to rename the Cut. Cap. and Balance legislation that was passed that would cut $6 trillion out of the hearts and needs of the American people. I called it the "Tap Dance. Losers Club. and Bust the Benefits" bill because this is not a question of Members who are standing here today. wanting to recklessly spend your money. In fact. we are excited about opportunities that help boost the middle class. but we want to remind our colleagues that there are Americans who are impoverished. Do you know that there are Americans who are on the front linesyoung soldiers of the ages of 18. 19. 20. and 21 who have come out of places like the Delta in Mississippi or the Fifth Ward in Texas or the Appalachian Mountains or from the urban centers around the Nationwho are suffering from the highest degree of poverty. not poverty that they have generated on themselves? Yes. there are issues sometimes with legacy poverty: families that have never broken the cycle. who are living in public housing or. even worse. who are living in housing that is not fit to be lived in. Travel in some of the shoes that many of us travel in. and go to places in America where there is no running water. So we come today to acknowledge the fact that there is poverty in America. In my own State. the people who are living in poverty rose to 16.3 percent in 2007 and to 17.2 percent in 2009and we happen to be the second largest State in the Nation. Those are large numbers of individuals. We have the highest number of soldiers in the State of Texas who have come back from Iraq and Afghanistan. some of whom have had to access food stamps. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that there are currently 5.6 million Texans living in poverty. 2.2 million of them are children. So I stand here today. Let our eyes rest upon what poverty truly is. This little one is a symbol of what poverty really is. It is the innocent and those who cannot speak for themselves. Over 50 percent of the children who are in foster care in Harris Countythat is in Texashappen to be minority children. African American children. I remember my late colleague Mickey Leland was so overwhelmed by the depth of children who were in crisis and in need that he organized something called the "crisis cradles" so that. when babies had to be taken out of a distressed home in the middle of the night. they could come to a comforting place. Those babies were in poverty. were in crisis. and they became part of the foster care system. That is a system that needs money. not because theyre deadbeats. but because they are innocent children who have come into home situations where women are impoverished. where there may be abuse. Poverty comes in all forms. 3.9 million residents of Texas rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Access Program. This is all discretionary funding which the $6 trillion would devastateagain. tap dancing around lifting the debt ceiling. President Reagan said to Majority Leader Baker that it would be an incalculable devastating result if. at the time that he was President. the debt ceiling was not raised. By the way. it was raised 17 times. Does anyone understand that. constitutionally. the debt ceiling may be unconstitutional? The 14th Amendment. section 4read your Constitutionsays that all debt of the United States. public debt. should be recognized. So just to conclude. Mr. Speaker. we come today to let America know: Should we let this little baby be part of the losers club or should we let our soldiers and their families and grandmothers and grandfathers be part of the losers club? We are standing here today for the impoverished. and we are committed to fighting for them. I would like to thank my friend from California for managing this time and drawing attention to the millions of Americans living in poverty. In the coming weeks and months. this Congress will continue to debate the debt ceiling and budget. However. as we discuss cuts. it is imperative that we not lose sight of how funding reductions affect the American people. CFPB regulations enacted by the bureau are designed to protect the average consumer from fraud and abuse. and prevent financial institutions from employing unfair practices. In 2009. there were 43.6 million Americans throughout the nation living in poverty. The 2010 Federal poverty threshold. determined by the U.S. Census. is that a family of four is considered impoverished if they are living on less than $22.314 per year. Children represent a disproportionate amount of the United States poor population. In 2008. there were 15.45 million impoverished children in the Nation. 20.7 percent of Americas youth. In my home state of Texas. where I represent the 18th Congressional District. the percentage of people living in poverty rose from 16.3 percent in 2007 to 17.2 percent in 2009. 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 percent of households in the state struggle with food insecurity. We must not. we cannot. at a time when the Census Bureau places the number of Americans living in poverty at the highest rate in over 50 years. cut vital social services. not when in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and persistent unemployment so many rely on Federal benefits to survive. In April 2011. 3.9 million residents of Texas relied on the Supplemental Nutrition Access Program (SNAP) and other food stamp programs to feed their families. The Republican budget reforms SNAP benefits into block grants. and caps the amount of Federal funding available to the program. with no guarantee that the allocated funding will be sufficient to meet the demand of low income families struggling with hunger. The Republican budget also cuts $504 million from the Women. Infant and Children (WIC) Program. which provides nutritious food to struggling mothers and children. The USDA reports that more than 990.000 Texas families rely on WIC for essential nutrition to keep mothers and their children healthy. The Congressional Budget Office estimates changes to Medicare under the Republican budget plan will triple the cost for new beneficiaries by 2030 and increase costs for current recipients. including the 2.9 million people in Texas who received Medicare in 2010. The Republican proposal will enact damaging changes to Medicaid. threatening healthcare resources for the 60 million people. half of them children. that rely on this program to stay healthy. A block grant for funding or a cap on federal Medicaid spending would increase the cost for states and the low income families who benefit from the program. Harris County has one of the highest Medicaid enrollment records in Texas. Limits and cuts to Medicaid funds would significantly hurt the citizens of Texass 18th District. Harris County averages between 500.000 and 600.000 Medicaid recipients monthly. thousands of people who may not have access to healthcare under this budget. Yes. we must take steps to balance the budget and reduce the national debt. but not at the expense of vital social programs. It is unconscionable that in our Nation of vast resources. my Republican colleagues would pass a budget that cuts funding for essential social programs benefitting children and the elderly in order to finance $800 billion in new tax cuts for the wealthiest among us. Perhaps my friends on the other side of the aisle are content to conclude that life simply is not fair. equality is not accessible to everyone. and the less advantaged among us are condemned to remain as they are. but I do not accept that. That kind of complacency is not fitting for America. I firmly believe that all Americans can come together to protect the most vulnerable citizens in the Nation. to provide relief for the poor and the hungry. because 43 million of our fellow countrymen living in poverty. 15 million of them children. is simply unacceptable. Finally. where are the jobscutting $6 trillion will not create jobs. I am here to create jobs for the poor and our American families. I urge every Member in this Chamber to look at what unites us rather than what divides us. We are linked by our compassion. and bound by the fundamental edict of the American dream that says we will strive to provide our children with a better life than we had. We can. and we must reach a compromise that will not cut valuable services from those who need government the most. I thank my friend. the gentlelady from California.