Congresswoman Barbara Lee Speaks at Prayer Vigil on Fighting Poverty
For Immediate Release
September 16, 2008
Contact: Ricci Graham
(510) 763-0370
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee delivered the following remarks during a prayer vigil on "Fighting Poverty with Faith":
“The faith community has always played the critical role of being the nation’s moral compass on tending to the least of these. It is important and timely that we gather here during this historic moment in our history, to once again focus the nation’s attention on the quiet suffering of the millions of American families who live in poverty.
“With the help and guidance of the faith community we can as a Congress, and a country, seize this opportunity to finally and truly address the needs of our most vulnerable. Record enrollment for food stamps and increasing demand at community food banks and homeless shelters have stretched our communities’ social safety nets to their breaking point.
“Because 37 million Americans living in poverty is 37 million too many. Because 47 million Americans without access to healthcare is 47 million too many. And yet again, our minority communities bear the greatest burden. 31.6 percent Hispanic children under 5 and an astounding 40.7 percent of African American children under 5 grow up under the shadow of poverty.
“That is why we have gathered here today, because working together we will change all that. We, as a nation, must commit to breaking this cycle of poverty.
“The House of Representatives unanimously passed the bill I introduced, H. Con. Res. 198 that sets a goal of cutting poverty in half in a decade. My colleagues and I are working closely with the Half in Ten Campaign to create the legislation and the programs that will make this goal a reality.
“But we need your voice and your prayers and together we can set the stage for the next Congress and the next Administration to strike out on a bold new path. Cutting poverty in half in ten years is a modest and reachable goal and I know that together, we can get there. But as we set this goal, we must also ensure that our nation’s priorities are sound and our budgets are moral.
“We must end the unjust war in Iraq and renew our nation’s commitment to the War on Poverty!”
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Congresswoman Barbara Lee (Oakland-D) is a leader in the fight against poverty both here and abroad. She authored legislation passed unanimously by the House of Representatives on January 22, 2008, H. Con. Res. 198 that sets the goal of cutting poverty in half in ten years. She is a founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus and Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus which are both dedicated to reducing the number of Americans who live in poverty. She is the only member of Congress serving on both the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.