[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 116 (Thursday, September 15, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1877-E1878]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE POVERTY LEVEL IN OUR NATION IS UNACCEPTABLE--IT IS TIME FOR A
CHANGE
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HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS
of maryland
in the house of representatives
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about poverty in
our nation--the harsh reality of which played out painfully for all of
the world to see after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast region.
The televised images of hardship, death and despair from New Orleans
may have opened the doors to this nation's reservoir of compassion--but
something more than a momentary outpouring of conscience will be
required to keep those doors from slamming shut again once the
television spotlights dim.
Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath revealed the harsh realities of
poverty in America. The heartbreaking visions of lost children
searching for their families, elderly people trapped in their homes,
diabetics suffering without their insulin and corpses floating in the
streets have the potential to become a transforming event.
That potential will be realized, however, only if Americans of
conscience join together in a national movement to end poverty in
America.
Once again, a generation of Americans must find within ourselves the
courage, optimism and organizational skills that will allow us to
demand an end to the poverty that underscored the New Orleans tragedy--
and to make permanent our demand for positive change.
The road toward achieving this goal must begin, as all missions of
change begin, in our personal experience as a people. Consider two
families who have been transformed by the New Orleans disaster--whom I
will call the Jones and Smith families. I am using fictitious names and
relaying a blended story to protect their privacy--but quite frankly
Mr. Speaker their stories are a common refrain from the Katrina
fallout.
Prior to this storm, Mr. and Mrs. Jones lived in public housing with
their three children. Neither parent had a high school diploma and--as
a result--they lived in a neighborhood surrounded by unemployment and
poverty.
If it had not been for Hurricane Katrina, the Jones family might
never have met the Smiths, a middle-aged couple who live in an upscale
suburban home hundreds of miles away.
The Smiths were haunted by the suffering that they were witnessing on
their television screen. Called to take action by their church, they
reached out to the Jones family and gave them a place to live in the
basement of their home. The impact of their generosity has been
profound.
Before the storm and the flood, Mr. Jones had been unemployed due to
layoffs at the New Orleans oil refinery where he had worked. Now, one
of Mr. Smith's neighbors, a lumber yard supervisor, has given Mr. Jones
a job--and the Smiths are helping the Jones family research GED
programs that can help them get even better jobs.
Across America, churches and good people like the Smiths are coming
together to provide the shelter, warm meals, clothing and other help
that will allow many of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina to rebuild
their lives. School districts have opened their classrooms to the more
than 372,000 students displaced by the storm. Government and non-profit
organizations are holding job fairs to help those who have been
displaced find employment.
We cannot remake the past, but we can give meaning to the staggering
toll of those who have suffered and died as a result of this national
tragedy. That is what the Smith family is doing, and they deserve our
applause.
Yet, if the debacle in New Orleans is truly to become a ``tipping
point'' that guides this nation toward a more just and humane society,
something more than individual acts of compassion will be required.
Consider these facts. In New Orleans before the storm, three out of
every ten residents lived below the poverty line--and at least 37
million Americans (including 13 million American children) are now
living in poverty nationwide.
In fact, the number of Americans falling into poverty increased again
last year for the fourth straight year. While the economy grew 3.8%,
median income has remained flat for the fifth straight year at $44,389.
Income inequality is at an all time high with 50.1 percent of income
going to the top 20 percent of households-- where only the top 5
percent of income earners saw an increase in real income gains in 2004
according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Mr. Speaker, it is an undisputable fact that many of the victims of
Hurricane Katrina were victims of poverty and neglect.
However, I believe like many of my colleagues that they should not
have to wait for our compassion until another disaster brings with it
their televised deaths in our streets.
At the federal level, we must demand that those who now control both
the Congress and the White House back up the words of compassion that
they speak. That is why I have joined House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi in urging that the House Republicans set aside their plan to cut
the federal budget by $35 billion to help pay for another $70 billion
tax cut for the rich.
Americans need to know that, while the Republican leadership
expresses compassion for this nation's poorest citizens, they are
planning to cut $10 billion from Medicaid, $9 billion from federal
student aid, and additional tens of billions of dollars from the
federal food stamp program, public housing assistance, Head Start,
public education and job training programs.
As a nation, we can do better than this. Shortly after the New
Orleans tragedy touched our Nation, I offered this challenge to the
Bush Administration and its allies in the Congress.
``We cannot allow it to be said by history,'' I declared at a
Washington press conference, ``that the difference between those who
lived and those who died in the great storm and
[[Page E1878]]
flood of 2005 was nothing more than poverty, age or skin color.''
This, I submit, is the continuing challenge of poverty in America--a
challenge that will continue to test the moral fabric of our Nation. I
applaud my colleague Representative Barbara Lee, for her tireless
efforts to shine a bright light on America's economic disparities and
resultant poverty. I hope that her bill H. Con. Res. 234, serves to
allow us to begin to discuss and to address solutions to ending poverty
in this country. To do so, I firmly believe that we have to rethink how
our federal fiscal and social policies are lending significantly to the
poverty problem.
A moral people would take up this challenge. A moral people would
understand that it is time for a change.
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