H. Res. 67 — Expressing the moral responsibility of the Congress to end adult and child poverty (January 28, 2021)
Summary
House Resolution 67 expresses the moral responsibility of the Congress to end adult and child poverty in the United States. Lee of California submitted it on January 28, 2021, with cosponsors listed beginning with Moore of Wisconsin, and it was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform. A preamble states that in 2019, 34,000,000 people including nearly 11,000,000 children were living in poverty based on the Official Poverty Measure. The House of Representatives would acknowledge that budgets are moral documents and affirm that ending poverty, especially for the Nation’s children, is a moral and economic imperative.
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“H. Res. 67 — Expressing the moral responsibility of the Congress to end adult and child poverty (January 28, 2021).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/bills-bills-117hres67ih-bills-117hres67ih/
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IV
117TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 67
Expressing the moral responsibility of the Congress to end adult and child
poverty in the United States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 28, 2021
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. GARCÍA of
Illinois, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs.
WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. RUSH, Mr. KHANNA, Ms.
SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi,
Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia,
Mr. SABLAN, and Ms. KAPTUR) submitted the following resolution; which
was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform
RESOLUTION
Expressing the moral responsibility of the Congress to end
adult and child poverty in the United States.
Whereas poverty is an immoral and economic stain on our
Nation and needs to be addressed;
Whereas the poverty rate in the United States, the wealthiest
nation in the world, continues to rank among the highest
when compared to other developed nations;
Whereas according to the ‘‘Poor People’s Moral Budget: Ev-
erybody Has the Right to Live’’, 140,000,000 Americans
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are poor or one emergency away from being poor;
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Whereas, in 2019, 34,000,000 people including nearly
11,000,000 children were living in poverty based on the
Official Poverty Measure (OPM);
Whereas 1 in 7 children live in poverty and more than
4,500,000 of these children lived in extreme poverty, at
less than half the poverty level, and nearly 3 in 4 poor
children were children of color;
Whereas child poverty creates gaps in cognitive skills for very
young children, puts children at greater risk of hunger
and homelessness, jeopardizes their health and ability to
learn, and fuels the intergenerational cycle of poverty;
Whereas communities of color face disproportionate rates of
poverty and inequality;
Whereas approximately 8,900,000 Black, 10,500,000 Latinx,
2,000,000 Asian, and 2,100,000 Native and Indigenous
people live in poverty in the United States;
Whereas more than 1 in 4 Black children and more than 1
in 5 Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native chil-
dren were poor compared with 1 in 12 White children;
Whereas income inequality is the worst it has been in five
decades;
Whereas more than 19,000,000 women lived in poverty in
2019, with women of color, women with disabilities, and
older women facing higher rates of poverty than women
overall;
Whereas the top 10 percent of United States households own
70 percent of the country’s total wealth and those in the
bottom 50 percent saw no increase in their wealth over
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the past 30 years;
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Whereas, in 2019, 35,200,000 people, including 10,700,000
children, were deemed food insecure, including the
11,900,000 people living in 5,300,000 households defined
by the Department of Agriculture as very food insecure,
a number virtually unchanged since 2018;
Whereas if COVID–19 incidences continue as projected
through this year and next, the number of people experi-
encing food insecurity in 2020 would increase by over
17,000,000, including nearly 7,000,000 children, which
means 54,000,000 people (1 in 6) would experience food
insecurity in 2020, including 18,000,000 children (1 in
4);
Whereas the Federal minimum wage has not changed from
$7.25 per hour since 2009, and Federal law has allowed
employers to pay tipped workers just $2.13 per hour
since 1991;
Whereas the value of the minimum wage has declined in real
terms by more than 30 percent since 1968;
Whereas the Official Poverty Measure (OPM) has been ad-
justed only for inflation since 1963 and does not ade-
quately capture sufficient needs for families to cover
food, housing, utilities, and childcare expenses;
Whereas 62,000,000 workers in the United States work for
less than a living wage;
Whereas over 200,000 people with disabilities work for a sub-
minimum wage;
Whereas the United States does not require a national min-
imum paid sick time standard, and therefore working
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adults without paid sick leave are three times more likely
to have incomes below the poverty line;
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Whereas fewer than 40 percent of American working adults
have access to paid medical leave to address a serious ill-
ness or injury through employer-provided short-term dis-
ability insurance, and fewer than 60 percent are eligible
to take unpaid FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act),
leaving millions of workers and families just 1 accident
or illness away from economic devastation;
Whereas approximately 5,200,000 workers are working in in-
voluntary part-time jobs when they would prefer full-time
jobs;
Whereas millions of people working in hourly jobs have un-
stable, unpredictable work schedules that do not give
them the notice and input they need to plan their lives
and care for their families;
Whereas ‘‘fissuring’’ of the workplace, has resulted in more
subcontracted, temporary, and 1099 positions that lack
benefits and workplace protections, leading to greater
economic precarity for low-wage workers;
Whereas according to the 2019 Federal Reserve report on the
economic well-being of United States households, 4 in 10
Americans say they are not able to cover an unexpected
expense of $400;
Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic may exacerbate poverty,
especially for children, and has exposed the shortcomings
of the United States economic system and social safety
net;
Whereas if adequate measures are not taken to help Ameri-
cans during the COVID–19 pandemic, the Center on
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Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University
projects that 21,000,000 more individuals will be in pov-
erty, the highest recorded rate of poverty since 1967;
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Whereas according to the same Columbia University report,
child poverty could rise by 53 percent with Black and
Latino children bearing a disproportionate risk of falling
into or deeper into poverty;
Whereas, as of May 21, 2020, 38,600,000 Americans have
filed for unemployment since mid-March because busi-
nesses have shut down or reduced their payroll in re-
sponse to the COVID–19 pandemic;
Whereas economic distress faced during the COVID–19 pan-
demic will disproportionately impact children, women,
working-class people, LGBTQ+ communities, and Black
and Brown communities;
Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic threatens to drastically in-
crease poverty for children and families;
Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic is disrupting children’s
daily lives and there are likely to be long-term and nega-
tive consequences for child development and future suc-
cess;
Whereas low-income children and families are often the tar-
gets of discrimination based on their socioeconomic status
as well as other social indicators such as race or eth-
nicity, immigration status, ability, sex, sexual orientation,
and gender identity;
Whereas low-income families pay nearly 35 percent of their
income on childcare compared to middle-class families
who pay roughly 14 percent of their income on childcare;
Whereas poverty has lasting effects on a child’s neural and
functional brain development and mental health;
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Whereas poverty exacerbates the student achievement rate
and schools remain economically segregated;
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Whereas child poverty costs the United States between
$800,000,000,000 and $1,100,000,000,000 annually;
Whereas protecting children against the lifelong consequences
of poverty will improve their life and reduce child poverty
in future generations;
Whereas poverty exacerbates the student achievement rate
and many schools remain economically and racially seg-
regated;
Whereas school districts with high poverty rates often receive
the least amount of funding;
Whereas the number of students experiencing poverty and
homelessness has increased by 11 percent;
Whereas LGBTQ+ students face poverty and homelessness
because they are forced to leave their homes because of
their sexual orientation or gender identity;
Whereas according to the Department of Education,
1,500,000 school-aged children experienced homelessness
during the 2017–2018 school year;
Whereas many low-income children and families do not re-
ceive the full value of the current Child Tax Credit
(CTC) as it leaves behind 23,000,000 children, including
50 percent of Black and Latino Children;
Whereas to reduce child poverty long term, children also need
access to affordable, comprehensive physical and behav-
ioral health care, stable shelter, consistent and nutritious
meals, affordable high-quality early development and
learning opportunities, high performing schools and col-
leges, and families and neighborhoods free from violence;
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Whereas 29 percent of Americans skipped refilling their pre-
scriptions because of high costs, and 26 percent struggled
to pay medical bills;
Whereas more than 500,000 people experience poverty and
homelessness on any given night, a number which has in-
creased over the past 2 years;
Whereas the criminal-legal system contributes to a cycle of
poverty by issuing court-imposed fines and fees and
threatening imprisonment for minor infractions and civil
violations;
Whereas according to the Prison Policy Initiative, families
spend almost $2,900,000,000 on exorbitant commissary
costs and phone calls to support their incarcerated loved
ones;
Whereas formerly incarcerated people face barriers to em-
ployment, housing, and social support programs after re-
lease and access to higher education, adult education,
and workforce development training opportunities after
release;
Whereas nearly 1 in 2 United States children have at least
1 parent with a criminal record, and the barriers associ-
ated with a parent’s record can stunt a child’s cognitive
development, school performance, and educational attain-
ment;
Whereas children in immigrant families make up one-quarter
of all children in the United States, and are more likely
to face systemic barriers to accessing economic and nutri-
tion supports that can aid their health and development
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with data from the nationally representative Well-Being
and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS) showing that over 3 in
10 adults in low-income immigrant families with children
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(31.5 percent) reported that they or a family member
were chilled from using benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, the
Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or housing
subsidies in 2019;
Whereas globally, people living in areas with high concentra-
tions of poverty will be disproportionately impacted by
climate change;
Whereas voter suppression and lack of access to voting, in-
cluding early voting or alternative methods, leads to a
disproportionate underrepresentation of low-income peo-
ple;
Whereas the United States should redistribute wealth and
Federal assistance to reduce poverty and increase eco-
nomic opportunity;
Whereas an investment of $24,400,000,000 per year in K–
12 schools and teachers could start to boost academic
performance among poor and struggling children for
about the same cost as a wall at the southern border of
the United States;
Whereas for every $1 invested in early childhood education,
society would gain $7.30 due to reduced poverty, lower
incarceration rates, and better health outcomes;
Whereas addressing climate change with a $200,000,000,000
per year investment in a clean energy transition would
reduce poverty by creating 2,700,000 new jobs;
Whereas raising income tax rates by 1 percent in the top 2
income brackets would raise about $125,000,000,000
over 10 years that can be used in assistance for people
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living in poverty;
Whereas ending mass incarceration and instead adopting a
Justice Reinvestment model could save up to
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$4,000,000,000 that can be used to invest in people liv-
ing in poverty; and
Whereas simple trade-offs in our budget could fund critical,
equitable policy changes towards establishing a moral
economy: Now, therefore, be it
1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
2 (1) acknowledges that budgets are moral docu-
3 ments that reflect our values as a Nation;
4 (2) acknowledges that child poverty robs our
5 Nation of a child’s full potential and prevents mil-
6 lions of children from reaching healthy development
7 and an economically secure future;
8 (3) supports passing policy provisions to reduce
9 adult and child poverty, racial disparities, income
10 and wealth inequality, and increase of opportunity
11 for all;
12 (4) supports policies to help reduce child pov-
13 erty by increasing wages for working families, im-
14 proving tax credits to ensure more low-income chil-
15 dren and families benefit, boosting nutrition and
16 housing assistance, expanding subsidized jobs with
17 special attention to the needs of young adults dis-
18 connected from school and work, and providing ac-
19 cess to quality, reliable childcare;
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1 (5) encourages the Federal Government, States,
2 and cities to enact robust antipoverty policies and to
3 create new, innovative solutions to eliminate poverty;
4 (6) acknowledges that too few resources have
5 been allocated by the Federal Government to help
6 end poverty for children and families;
7 (7) acknowledges that poverty was created and
8 sustained by humans, including policymakers, and
9 that we can choose to end it;
10 (8) affirms that ending poverty, especially for
11 our Nation’s children, is a moral and economic im-
12 perative;
13 (9) affirms immigration status is not a means
14 to deny basic need programs;
15 (10) supports increased funding for, as well as
16 broadened inclusivity and strengthening of basic
17 need programs like the supplemental nutrition as-
18 sistance program (SNAP), temporary assistance for
19 needy families (TANF), the Child Tax Credit, the
20 Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and housing as-
21 sistance especially during the COVID–19 pandemic;
22 (11) supports comprehensive health care that
23 should be available and affordable to everyone in the
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24 United States during the COVID–19 pandemic;
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1 (12) supports the strengthening of robust un-
2 employment insurance and paid leave policies to pro-
3 tect workers, especially during the COVID–19 pan-
4 demic;
5 (13) reaffirms that a criminal record is no
6 longer a life sentence to poverty for tens of millions
7 of justice-involved individuals and their families, and
8 supports automatically clearing criminal records
9 once a person has completed the sentence imposed;
10 and
11 (14) accepts climate change as an accelerator
12 towards poverty and a threat to shared prosperity
13 that demands investment in a clean energy transi-
14 tion to help create jobs.
Æ
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