Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, had I been able to vote, I would have voted ``yes'' on the Democratic Motion to Recommit H.R. 10.

Mr. Speaker, first let me take a moment to thank the gentlelady from Ohio, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, for her fearless and tireless leadership in protecting our democracy and the bedrock, of course, of our country, and that is the right to vote. She has done an amazing job keeping us very focused and pointed with all of the information we need to try to address this in a big way.

Once again, I am here today to sound the alarm because, make no mistake about it, the fundamental right to vote which is at the heart of our democracy, it is under attack. Republican legislators and governors are proposing partisan laws that require voters to show government-approved photo IDs before voting.

Now, I came to this floor years ago after the stolen Presidential elections in Florida and in Ohio to protest the results of those two elections that were filled with voter suppression. It worked for the Republicans before, and so legislators in 42 States on this map of shame have doubled down on these strategies to make it harder for certain communities to vote.

These proposals would disenfranchise 21 million Americans. That's over 1 in 10 eligible voters in America who do not have adequate identification. Now, how in the world, for example, would my 100-year- old aunt get her birth certificate to prove who she is to get a government ID to vote? She wouldn't know where to start, nor how to pay

for it. And it's no coincidence that a disproportionate number of these disaffected voters come from communities of color as well as the poor, the elderly, and students.

Fully one in four otherwise qualified African Americans would be unable to vote under these voter-ID laws. Around one in five Asian Americans, Latinos, and young adults between the ages of 18 to 24 would be blocked.

In my home State of California, a voter-ID bill was introduced to suppress voter participation. It would cost $26 just to get the required documents to qualify for a government-issued ID. Now, having been born and raised in Texas, this certainly looks like a poll tax to me, which those of us remember as a way to prevent African Americans from voting. These voter-ID laws have a partisan agenda seeking to disenfranchise and deny specific populations of voters before they have the opportunity to elect their representatives in government. These partisan laws are shameful, and they're a disgrace to our country.

If these Republican lawmakers were truly concerned with fighting voter fraud, they would take on actual documented problems such as distributing fliers with false information meant to trick voters, improperly purging voters, or tampering with election equipment and forms.

Instead, they are pushing laws designed to change election outcomes by reducing voting, repressing turnout, and turning the clock back to the days of Jim Crow. This is the exact opposite of where our country needs to go. With almost 40 percent of eligible voters regularly staying away from voting booths, we need to be expanding participation in our democracy, making the ballot more accessible, not less. We cannot and we must not allow democracy to be undermined, especially while we're promoting democracy abroad.

We must unmask these shameful attempts to disenfranchise voters. Let's stop this partisan effort that strikes at the very core of our country. Let's win this war against voters. We should be about dismantling and reducing barriers so that we can really begin to reignite the American Dream for those who have lost hope.

So I want to thank my colleagues, especially Congresswoman Fudge, for their calls to protect the right to vote on behalf of all the citizens across this great Nation.

Thank you so much.

First off, let me thank the gentleman from Michigan for those very kind words, more importantly for your leadership on so many fronts and for caring about those who are falling through the cracks at this point, and also for this very sobering Special Order tonight, because this is very sobering on the need for an immediate extension of unemployment benefits for the millions of Americans who are struggling to find work.

While we received some welcome news on the unemployment rates from last week with the national unemployment rate falling to 8.6 percent from 9 percent, we cannot stop. We cannot abandon the millions of job seekers during the middle of a faltering recovery.

In fact, failing to extend these critical benefits would really cripple our recovery and cost the economy over half a million jobs.

The slow pace of private sector job creation is not because of regulations or uncertainty in the Tax Code. If you speak to nearly any business person, they will tell you that they are not hiring because they don't have customers.

Abruptly ending unemployment benefits during the holiday season, first of all, it's mean and it's morally wrong. It would strip 2 million customers out of the economy by March, and over 6 million customers out of the economy by the end of the year. But again, more importantly this is just morally wrong. This is just not who we are as Americans.

We could not make a worse decision than to cripple our economy by failing to protect millions of families and children from poverty because that is just what unemployment benefits do. It keeps 1 million children from falling into poverty. So we absolutely must extend this critical benefit to workers who were laid off through no fault of their own before the end of this year.

Hidden, though, within the positive 0.4 percent drop of unemployment is the discouraging news that over 300,000 Americans dropped out of the workforce and that the long-term unemployment picture is not improving, with the average length of unemployment now rising from 39 weeks to 40 weeks.

So not only must we immediately extend the emergency unemployment benefits, but we should also immediately pass legislation that Congressman Bobby Scott and myself have introduced, H.R. 589, which would add an additional 14 weeks of tier I unemployment benefits for the millions of Americans who have already completely exhausted their benefits. And I hope that the Republican leadership will bring that bill to the floor for an up-or-down vote.

We can't ignore the needs of people who have hit the 99 weeks, because unfortunately when we extend unemployment benefits, there will be 2 to 3 million people who still won't be covered because they've hit the 99 weeks. So we can't ignore the needs of the millions of Americans who have run out of time and who are now losing their homes, falling out of the middle class, and relying more and more on our help.

In addition, there was a startling rise in the African American unemployment rate from 15.1 percent to 15.5 percent in the same period. There can be no clearer reminder of the ongoing racial and ethnic disparities that continue to plague our Nation and keep minority communities suffering disproportionately than higher rates of unemployment, poverty, near poverty, and tragic health disparities like unconscionably higher rates of HIV infection.

When the national employment picture improved significantly for the first time in months, African Americans faced a marked increase in their unemployment. That means we must take immediate and bold action to implement targeted programs and policies to ensure that we truly are a Nation that provides equal opportunity and leaves no one behind in terms of accessing the American Dream.

Now, Congressman Levin, I held a job fair in my district a few months ago. Thousands of people showed up in Oakland for the few jobs--four people for every job--that were available.

But let me tell you, people want to work. They want to work. We in the Congressional Black Caucus held five job fairs around the country, thousands of people showed up for limited jobs. I can say with certainty, people want to work, people want to work.

And so we have to, however, extend the safety net or this bridge over troubled waters until we figure out how we can deal with the politics of getting the American Jobs Act passed, and also other opportunities and legislation to provide jobs for people because people want to work. So we have to extend this unemployment compensation until we do that.

We have to save our economy and the millions of struggling families from poverty and immediately pass and extend unemployment benefits now.

Let's not forget again the 2 million-plus people who've hit that 99- week limit who will not be eligible for an extension unless we figure out a way to include them in these initiatives and in this policy.

Mr. Speaker, we've got a lot of work to do. But I know we intend to stay here until we do our job, until we extend this bridge over troubled waters, the safety net for people just to survive. That's all this is, is for people just to survive.

If we don't do that, those of us who call ourselves people of faith really need to come to grips with our faith and who we are, and how we propose to move forward within the context of looking out for and making sure that the least of these are addressed and taken care of until we can provide them those opportunities and dismantle those barriers so they can reignite the American Dream, because it's turned into a nightmare for millions and millions of people.

So Congressman Levin, I want to thank you again for, again, this clarion call to our conscience. It should prick our conscience tonight. We should, tomorrow, say let's pass this now. The holiday season is upon us. People need some certainty in their lives. They need to know that they have a bipartisan effort to help them through this period, and they need to also know that we're going to work very hard to pass the American Jobs Act so that they can finally get a job, because that's what this is all about. And people want to work. Thank you again.

Mr. Speaker, as a founding co-chair of both the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus and the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, I rise today to draw attention once again to the ongoing crisis of poverty in America. And, today, I also want to draw particular attention to the impact of poverty on our national fight to stop HIV and AIDS.

Mr. Speaker, December 1 is World AIDS Day, and this year marks 30 years after the first discovery of AIDS cases. The United States and the HIV/AIDS community globally have made tremendous progress in our collective response to this domestic and global crisis. We have reduced the stigma surrounding the disease and strengthened education and outreach activities which continue to prevent millions of new cases of HIV worldwide. The scientific community has improved the treatment of HIV and AIDS with anti-retrovirals and combination therapies, and recent breakthroughs have revolutionized the way we think about AIDS.

We have come a long way in our battle against AIDS. Contracting HIV no longer has to be a death sentence. But we have much more work to do. Not everyone who is HIV positive has access to these life-saving therapies. For the one in three Americans who are poor or near poor, HIV can still be the same death sentence that it was during the Reagan Presidency. Today, nearly one in five Americans with HIV do not even know their status, and only about half of Americans who do know their status are receiving the treatment that they need.

For the 100 million Americans either in poverty or living on the edge of poverty, much more must be done. Access to the drug cocktails, high- quality health care, housing, and healthy foods that are all critical for people living with HIV are out of reach for far too many.

Mr. Speaker, 30 years later, we continue to shortchange HIV efforts in poverty-stricken communities; we fail to fully include women in outreach education and treatment; and we lack the resources for communities of color. This is just simply unconscionable.

Women of color and young gay and bisexual men still receive the most severe burden of HIV in the United States. African Americans represent approximately 14 percent of the United States population, but accounted for an estimated 44 percent of new infections in 2009. And we know the numbers are on the rise in Latino communities and Asian Pacific American communities as well. These disproportionate rates of infection are not something that have happened in isolation. People of color continue to face higher rates of unemployment, incarceration, poverty and near poverty than their white counterparts. We can and we must do much better than this.

We must do more for those who are disproportionately impacted by HIV and AIDS, both here in America and around the world. We must provide the science-based, comprehensive sex education that is proven to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. And we must grow past old fears and engage all community stakeholders to truly end the stigma surrounding the testing and treatment of this disease. We must repeal laws that legalize and promote discrimination and hate. We must support and expand programs which provide critical support for people living with HIV and AIDS and immediately--mind you, immediately--extend treatment to the thousands of Americans on the waiting list for life- saving drugs.

And of course we must fully implement the national HIV/AIDS strategy and support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. These policies are the critical next steps in our fight to stop this terrible disease. And we must protect the fraction of one percent the Federal budget directed to our global AIDS programs through PEPFAR and the Global Fund.

U.S. efforts are dramatically reducing the burden of HIV and AIDS in developing countries, and failing to support these programs would have dramatic national security and diplomatic implications for the United States--not to mention the humanitarian disaster that would occur. That is why last week I was very proud to be joined by over 100 Members of Congress in seeking appropriations of at least $5.25 billion for the PEPFAR program and $1.5 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. And I will enter this letter into the Record.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I was proud to have played a role in overturning the unjust and ineffective HIV travel ban in 2008. And, now, for the very first time in 20 years, the International AIDS Conference will be held in Washington, D.C. in July of 2012.

So let me encourage every Member and their staff to engage with the leading researchers and doctors in the worldwide fight against HIV and AIDS. Our global leadership will never be more important than at this promising moment of reversal, when we could move forward or we could go backwards. So I hope every Member will join our bipartisan 60-plus members of the HIV/AIDS Caucus.

Congress of the United States,

Washington, DC, November 21, 2011.

Hon. Kay Granger,

Chairman, Appropriations Subcommittee on State/Foreign

Operations, Washington, DC.

Hon. Nita Lowey,

Ranking Member, Appropriations Subcommittee on State/Foreign

Operations, Washington, DC.

Hon. Patrick Leahy,

Chairman, Appropriations Subcommittee on State/Foreign

Operations, Washington, DC.

Hon. Lindsey Graham

Ranking Member, Appropriations Subcommittee on State/Foreign

Operations, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairmen Leahy and Granger, and Ranking Members Graham

and Lowey: As you begin negotiations on a final Fiscal Year

2012 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related

Programs Appropriations bill, we write to respectfully

request that you secure funding for bilateral and

multilateral HIV/AIDS programs at the levels proposed in

S.1601, Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related

Programs Appropriations Act, 2012.

We urge support for $7.9 billion for global health programs

contained in the Senate

mark. More specifically, we urge you to support, at the very

least, $5.25 billion for the U.S. President's Emergency Plan

for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and $750 million for the Global Fund

to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as explicitly

allocated in S. 1601. In total, we support $1.05 billion for

the Global Fund (of which $300 million is contained in the

Senate Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill).

Moreover, we are strongly opposed to language contained in

the House Subcommittee Mark prohibiting funding for syringe

exchange programs, which are proven to reduce the incidence

of HIV infection.

U.S. global health programs including PEPFAR, along with

U.S. contributions to the Global Fund, are reducing disease

burden in low- and middle-income countries, and these

programs have important national security and diplomatic

elements for the United States. Global health programs

directly impact American security interests by stabilizing

parts of the world where extremism and a lack of alternatives

are a recipe for future conflict. The economic impact of

global health activities is also felt in the U.S., providing

thousands of jobs to help plan and implement global health

programming and to conduct health-related research at

colleges and universities.

Thanks to the help of the United States, the Global Fund

has grown into a proven, country-driven, performance-based

mechanism which ensures that countries themselves are

responsible for building their own sustainable programs. The

Global Fund has a robust history of improving its function

and continues to do so through its recent announcement of an

improvements agenda to further ensure every dollar is

utilized effectively, remains accountable, and is transparent

in operation.

We also welcome PEPFAR's leadership on advancing

combination HIV prevention approaches and urge the conferees

to ensure that these interventions are implemented to their

fullest and meet the needs of those most at-risk, especially

marginalized populations. Moreover, integration of HIV/AIDS

prevention, care and treatment programs--and, where

appropriate, other critical global health programs funded by

this bill, including maternal health, child survival, family

planning/reproductive health, and nutrition--is critical for

ensuring that the health needs of individuals are met and the

impact of funding is maximized.

In recent months, U.S.-funded research has made enormous

progress in shaping the response to AIDS and malaria

worldwide. These remarkable scientific advances call for a

renewed emphasis on ensuring that we maintain robust support

for PEPFAR and the Global Fund and continue the vital U.S.

commitment to the fight against global HIV/AIDS, TB and

malaria.

These programs amount to a fraction of one percent of the

federal budget, but they affect the lives of tens of

millions, guard against future conflicts, open up developing

markets, and will have lasting impact on the global AIDS

epidemic in the long term.

Thank you for considering this request.

Barbara Lee, Member of Congress; Wm. Lacy Clay, Member of

Congress; Bobby Rush, Member of Congress; Maurice

Hinchey, Member of Congress; Donna Christensen, Member

of Congress; Donald Payne, Member of Congress; John

Lewis, Member of Congress; Keith Ellison, Member of

Congress; Emanuel Cleaver, Member of Congress; Dale

Kildee, Member of Congress; Sheila Jackson Lee, Member

of Congress; Pete Stark, Member of Congress; Tammy

Baldwin, Member of Congress; John Conyers, Jr., Member

of Congress; John Sarbanes, Member of Congress; Mike

Quigley, Member of Congress; Eleanor Holmes Norton,

Member of Congress; Gwen Moore, Member of Congress;

Karen Bass, Member of Congress; Frederica Wilson,

Member of Congress; Diana DeGette, Member of Congress;

Yvette Clarke, Member of Congress; Edolphus Towns,

Member of Congress; Lynn Woolsey, Member of Congress;

Bruce Braley, Member of Congress; Raul Grijalva, Member

of Congress; Barney Frank, Member of Congress; Donna

Edwards, Member of Congress; Lucille Roybal-Allard,

Member of Congress; Janice Schakowsky, Member of Congress;

Theodore Deutch, Member of Congress; Alcee Hastings,

Member of Congress; Terri Sewell, Member of Congress; Jim

McDermott, Member of Congress; Tim Ryan, Member of

Congress; Grace Napolitano, Member of Congress; Russ

Carnahan, Member of Congress; Marcia Fudge, Member of

Congress; Colleen Hanabusa, Member of Congress; Hansen

Clarke, Member of Congress; Sanford Bishop, Member of

Congress; Ed Perlmutter, Member of Congress; Charles

Rangel, Member of Congress; Robert Brady, Member of

Congress; G.K. Butterfield, Member of Congress; Eliot

Engel, Member of Congress; Eddie Bernice Johnson, Member

of Congress; Henry Waxman, Member of Congress; Danny

Davis, Member of Congress; Mike Honda, Member of Congress;

Sam Farr, Member of Congress; David Scott, Member of

Congress; Joe Baca, Member of Congress; Betty Sutton,

Member of Congress; John Garamendi, Member of Congress;

Melvin Watt, Member of Congress; Dennis Kucinich, Member

of Congress; Maxine Waters, Member of Congress; Cedric

Richmond, Member of Congress; Jackie Speier, Member of

Congress; Doris Matsui, Member of Congress; Carolyn

Maloney, Member of Congress; Bobby Scott, Member of

Congress; Steve Cohen, Member of Congress; Laura

Richardson, Member of Congress; Debbie Wasserman Schultz,

Member of Congress; Ruben Hinojosa, Member of Congress;

James Moran, Member of Congress; Gary Ackerman, Member of

Congress; Andre Carson, Member of Congress; Bennie

Thompson, Member of Congress; Hank Johnson, Member of

Congress; Al Green, Member of Congress; Judy Chu, Member

of Congress; Bob Filner, Member of Congress; Jared Polis,

Member of Congress; Corrine Brown, Member of Congress;

Chaka Fattah, Member of Congress; Albio Sires, Member of

Congress; Joseph Crowley, Member of Congress; Ed Pastor,

Member of Congress; Zoe Lofgren, Member of Congress;

Michael Capuano, Member of Congress; Louise Slaughter,

Member of Congress; Chris Van Hollen, Member of Congress;

Shelley Berkley, Member of Congress; Howard Berman, Member

of Congress; Jose Serrano, Member of Congress; Rosa

DeLauro, Member of Congress; Lois Capps, Member of

Congress; Luis Gutierrez, Member of Congress; David

Cicilline, Member of Congress; James McGovern, Member of

Congress; Jerrold Nadler, Member of Congress; David Price,

Member of Congress; Sander Levin, Member of Congress;

Madeleine Bordallo, Member of Congress; Rush Holt, Member

of Congress; Gregory Meeks, Member of Congress; John

Olver, Member of Congress; Elijah Cummings, Member of

Congress; Earl Blumenauer, Member of Congress; George

Miller, Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues Congressman Berman, Congresswoman Bass of California, Congresswoman Waters, Congresswoman Hahn, and Congresswoman Richardson, to honor the extraordinary life of Dr. Teresa Hughes, the trailblazing Democratic state senator and assemblywoman who spent 25 years in the California Legislature championing education policy and reform. As the second African American woman ever elected to the Legislature, Dr. Hughes broke barriers for women and people of color during a long career marked by astute leadership and tireless advocacy. Dr. Hughes and her husband of 30 years, Dr. Frank Staggers, Sr., have been stalwart members of the Bay Area and Los Angeles communities for many years. With her passing on November 13, 2011, we are reminded of the joy Dr. Hughes inspired and the powerful legacy of her life's work.

Born in New York City on October 3, 1931, Dr. Hughes grew up in Harlem and earned a bachelor's degree in physiology and public health from Hunter College. After earning her master's in education administration from New York University, she completed a doctorate in education administration at Claremont Graduate School. A former New York social worker, teacher and school administrator, Dr. Hughes moved to Los Angeles in 1969 to finish her doctorate. She worked as an assistant professor of education at California State Los Angeles, and briefly as an assistant to then State Senator Mervyn Dymally.

In 1975, she was elected to California's 47th Assembly District, representing the greater Los Angeles area. Just one of three women in the 120-member Legislature at the time, and one of only seven African Americans, Dr. Hughes spent the next 17 years fighting for education and social justice initiatives. She authored an Assembly bill dedicating $800 million in bond money for school construction and the creation of a California School of the Arts. In 1982, she authored a bill that established the Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education, CARE, program, of which now there are 113 programs throughout the state serving low-income individuals and families. And in 1983, while chairing the Assembly Education Committee, she co-authored an education bill that set state graduation standards, raised teacher salaries and requirements, and lengthened the school day and year. She also wrote a bill that established the California Museum of Afro-American History and Culture within the Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles.

When, in 1985, the Joint Rules Committee formally recognized the new bipartisan Caucus of Women Legislators, comprising just 15 women state lawmakers in office, Dr. Hughes was selected to chair the caucus as the most senior woman legislator. And, after Dr. Hughes was elected to the 25th Senate District in 1992, she established the Senate Select Committee on College Admission and Outreach and wrote a school violence prevention bill that led to the Task Force on School Safety. Before she was termed out in 2000, the ever-pioneering Dr. Hughes became the first woman and first African American to serve on the Senate Rules Committee.

A member of many associations throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Hughes founded Aware Women of California, was a member of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Board of Trustees, was Legislative Consultant for the State Commission for Teacher Preparation and Licensing and, until just recently, was a member of the Nehemiah Corporation of America Board of Directors. Her namesake was dedicated to the Teresa Hughes Elementary School in 1988.

Today, California's 9th, 28th, 33rd, 35th, 36th and 37th Congressional Districts salute and honor a friend and an outstanding human being, Dr. Teresa P. Hughes. The State of California is truly indebted to her many civic contributions over the years. Our thoughts are with Dr. Staggers, Sr., their family, and Teresa's extended group of loved ones as we celebrate her incredible life. May she rest in peace.

Mr. Speaker, I rise again to really beat the drum about the ongoing crisis of poverty and unemployment in America.

On November 6, the Associated Press reported that we have crossed a terrible threshold. More job seekers now in America have run out of unemployment benefits than are receiving them. Simply put, the majority of Americans who are struggling to find a job are no longer getting unemployment benefits.

We need to extend unemployment benefits and we need to do it now, not just for those who are about to run out, but for the millions of Americans whose benefits ran out a long time ago--the millions who ran out of time to establish their careers, the millions who ran out of time to safeguard their families' futures, and the millions who ran out of time to ignite the fires of the American Dream.

Congressman Bobby Scott and I have a bill, H.R. 589, which will give millions of families just a little more time to find a good job, to make a secure home, and would provide a bridge over troubled waters while our Nation and the economy recovers.

Extending benefits for the 99ers is the right thing to do for millions of Americans who were laid off through no fault of their own. They watched as corporations took over their government and ran the economy into the ground. They watched as the banks raided the Nation's treasury and lined their pockets with massive bonuses while millions of Americans lost their jobs. They watched as our Nation's future was traded away for needless wars and tax cuts for billionaires.

Mr. Speaker, the American people are sick and tired. They don't want to watch anymore. They don't want to wait anymore. They have run out of time.

Nearly 50 million Americans are already living in poverty, struggling to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads. Countless millions more are living on the edge. They are desperately trying to stay one step ahead of disaster, living from paycheck to paycheck and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The American people really have run out of patience. They don't want to hear that the most powerful nation in the world is broke. They don't believe it when they are told that we can't afford Medicare or Medicaid or Social Security or unemployment benefits when we are spending $1 trillion on wars halfway around the world. They don't want to hear empty promises from Republicans in Congress about taking responsibility to ensure that the poor in America have ``food in their stomachs and they have a roof over their head,''

even while they pass bills that slash affordable housing programs and cut nutrition funding for women and children, a program which is very important.

Americans know that the rich should pay their fair share and that working men and women of America deserve more. They don't want this generation to be the first generation of Americans who won't do better than the last one. Americans want to move ahead, and they want those who have benefited the most from our economy to pay what they owe to the 99 percent of the American people who are the real engines of our economy and the heart of our democracy. The generation that is marching in the streets right now is asking what went wrong in the pursuit of the American Dream.

So let's pass H.R. 589 and give Americans a little more time to land that job that gets their family back on their feet. You know, when you run out of unemployment benefits after 99 weeks, that's it. That's it. So we must extend unemployment benefits, but we also need to extend, as our bill says, at least an additional 14 weeks so that those who have hit the 99-week wall have some form of survival until we can figure out a way to create jobs.

So we must pass the American Jobs Act to reinvest in the future of this country and build up our roads and bridges, repair our sewer lines, and build 21st century schools for all of our students.

Let's put America back on track with American jobs, American manufacturing, American ingenuity, and American leadership toward a brighter tomorrow for all Americans.

We must build these ladders of opportunity. We have to remove these barriers and obstacles. And let me tell you, not having a job is a huge barrier and a huge obstacle to reigniting the American Dream.

And so we must extend unemployment benefits, but we must not forget that there are those who have had 99 weeks who are no longer even eligible for unemployment benefits. And as the AP article says, we now have over 2 million people who won't even be eligible for unemployment compensation. That's 2.2 million people that won't even be eligible even if we extend unemployment benefits.

So let's work to try to figure out how to, one, create jobs, but to provide some safety net for those who really do want to work. And people want to work.

[From the Associated Press, Nov. 6, 2011]

Most Unemployed Americans Are No Longer Receiving Unemployment Benefits

Washington, DC.--The jobs crisis has left so many people

out of work for so long that most of America's unemployed are

no longer receiving unemployment benefits.

Early last year, 75 percent were receiving checks. The

figure is now 48 percent--a shift that points to a growing

crisis of long-term unemployment. Nearly one-third of

America's 14 million unemployed have had no job for a year or

more.

Congress is expected to decide by year's end whether to

continue providing emergency unemployment benefits for up to

99 weeks in the hardest-hit states. If the emergency benefits

expire, the proportion of the unemployed receiving aid would

fall further.

The ranks of the poor would also rise. The Census Bureau

says unemployment benefits kept 3.2 million people from

slipping into poverty last year. It defines poverty as annual

income below $22,314 for a family of four.

Yet for a growing share of the unemployed, a vote in

Congress to extend the benefits to 99 weeks is irrelevant.

They've had no job for more than 99 weeks. They're no longer

eligible for benefits.

Their options include food stamps or other social programs.

Nearly 46 million people received food stamps in August, a

record total. That figure could grow as more people lose

unemployment benefits.

So could the government's disability rolls. Applications

for the disability insurance program have jumped about 50

percent since 2007.

``There's going to be increased hardship,'' said Wayne

Vroman, an economist at the Urban Institute.

The number of unemployed has been roughly stable this year.

Yet the number receiving benefits has plunged 30 percent.

Government unemployment benefits weren't designed to

sustain people for long stretches without work. They usually

don't have to. In the recoveries from the previous three

recessions, the longest average duration of unemployment was

21 weeks, in July 1983.

By contrast, in the wake of the Great Recession, the figure

reached 41 weeks in September. That's the longest on records

dating to 1948. The figure is now 39 weeks.

``It was a good safety net for a shorter recession,'' said

Carl Van Horn, an economist at Rutgers University. It assumes

``the economy will experience short interruptions and then go

back to normal.''

Weekly unemployment checks average about $300 nationwide.

If the extended benefits aren't renewed, growth could slow by

up to a half-percentage point next year, economists say.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that each $1

spent on unemployment benefits generates up to $1.90 in

economic growth. The CB0 has found that the program is the

most effective government policy for increasing growth among

11 options it's analyzed.

Jon Polis lives in East Greenwich, R.I., one of the 20

states where 99 weeks of benefits are available. He used them

all up after losing his job as a warehouse worker in 2008.

His benefits paid for groceries, car maintenance and health

insurance.

Now, Polis, 55, receives disability insurance payments,

food stamps and lives in government-subsidized housing. He's

been unable to find work because employers in his field want

computer skills he doesn't have.

``Employers are crying that they can't find qualified

help,'' he said. But the ones he interviewed with ``weren't

willing to train anybody.''

From late 2007, when the recession began, to early 2010,

the number of people receiving unemployment benefits rose

more than four-fold, to 11.5 million.

But the economy has remained so weak that an analysis of

long-term unemployment data suggests that about 2 million

people have used up 99 weeks of checks and still can't find

work.

Contributing to the smaller share of the unemployed who are

receiving benefits: Some of them are college graduates or

others seeking jobs for the first time. They aren't eligible.

Only those who have lost a job through no fault of their own

qualify.

The proportion of the unemployed receiving benefits usually

falls below 50 percent during an economic recovery. Many have

either quit jobs or are new to the job market and don't

qualify.

Today, the proportion is falling for a very different

reason: Jobs remain scarce. So more of the unemployed are

exhausting their benefits.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has noted that the

long-term unemployed increasingly find it hard to find work

as their skills and professional networks erode. In a speech

last month, Bernanke called long-term unemployment a

``national crisis'' that should be a top priority for

Congress.

Lawmakers will have to decide whether to continue the

extended benefits by the end of this year. If the program

ends, nearly 2.2 million people will be cut off by February.

Congress has extended the program nine times. But it might

balk at the $45 billion cost. It will be the first time the

Republican-led House will vote on the issue.

I want to thank the gentleman for yielding and for continuing to fight the good fight on behalf of the American people.

Many of my Republican colleagues have come to the floor to keep telling us that the Federal Government must balance the budget, just like every American family. Well, it sounds like it makes sense to me, but it's nonsense. How would those families and businesses feel about Congress passing a constitutional amendment making it illegal to borrow money to invest in their futures? What if they could not get a mortgage to buy a house? What if they could not get credit to buy a car or get a credit card just to buy some clothes? What if they could not get a loan to grow their businesses? That's what this fundamental change to America's Constitution would do to the entire country. Can you imagine opening up the Constitution to make it impossible for people to invest in their future?

In addition, millions of families across America are taking in less income than they need to survive because of failed Republican economic policies that drove our economy into the ditch. Why would you now want to balance the budget on the backs of these people--seniors, the poor, our children, the most vulnerable? Now that people need a helping hand, Republicans want to tie the hands of government and restrict our budget so that exactly when Americans need more, you want to hurt them more.

This is really a moral disgrace. Let's stop wasting time on ridiculous efforts to amend our Constitution when millions of Americans need jobs now. Let's stop wasting time keeping campaign promises to Republican Tea Party supporters and pass real legislation that will create jobs like the American Jobs Act. Let's stop wasting time when nearly 50 million Americans--mind you, 50 million--in the richest and most powerful country in the world are living in poverty.

Thank you very much for the 30 seconds, and I just

want to remind us all that 50 million Americans are living in poverty in the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. And millions of job seekers are about to lose their unemployment benefits.

We do not need to radically alter our Nation's founding document to do what is right. We just have to take a balanced approach to reducing our deficits and balancing our budgets, and you do this by creating jobs.

So let the unwise Bush tax cuts expire, end the wars, cut the bloated and wasteful Pentagon spending, and protect the social safety net that protects millions of Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues to recognize the 75th Anniversary of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. A historic work of modern engineering once believed to be impossible, the completion of the ``Bay Bridge'' opened up groundbreaking transit channels and changed the face of the Bay Area as we know it.

The Bay Bridge was not only significant for its innovative engineering. It also created a new chapter in transportation history and represented an unprecedented feat of political and public consensus in the early 20th Century. At the onset, the Chief Engineer for the Bay Bridge California Toll Bridge Authority, Charles H. Purcell, encountered several obstacles. He was faced with four-and-a-half miles of water in between the two metropolitan areas of the Port of Oakland and San Francisco shoreline. No one had ever contemplated a bridge so long, so expensive or with such deep piers.

The idea for a bridge had been popular since the days of the Gold Rush. However, with the increasing prevalence of the automobile, a reliance on railroads to bolster trade and an already crowded ferry system, the need for a bridge became so great that Bay Area leaders were able to persuade President Herbert Hoover and the former independent U.S. agency Reconstruction Finance Corporation to advance approximately $62 million in federal funding for the ambitious project.

The California Toll Bridge Authority formed as a result of the California State Legislature's 1926 passage of a law calling for a policy-making body to bridge San Francisco and Alameda County. As early as 1930, formal plans for the Bay Bridge began to take shape among Purcell and his colleagues. First, in order to address the issue of length, it was decided that a suspension bridge and cantilever bridge would meet at Yerba Buena Island.

In order to design what is now one of the longest bridge spans in the world (23,000 feet), employing the world's deepest bridge pier (242 feet underwater) and the earth's largest diameter bore tunnel (76 feet wide by 56 feet high), Purcell turned to some of the most experienced bridge engineers in the country, including Ralph Modjeski, Leon Moisseiff and Daniel Moran. The low bidders for construction of the job included some of the giants of construction contracting, including the American Bridge Company, McClintic-Marshall for the steel work and the ``Six Companies'' contractors for the foundation work.

In total, over 8,000 workers from around the Bay Area and across the country produced the complicated and dangerous work, logging 214,870 ``man-days,'' at what would now be considered an unthinkable speed. And although there were no mass incidents during the building, we also pay tribute today to the hundreds of workers who were injured on the job and the over two dozen men who lost their lives.

After three years of construction, the Bay Bridge opened for traffic and to huge public fanfare on November 12, 1936--six months ahead of schedule. Today, after several modifications to allow for the unexpected flood of increased traffic in the 30s and 40s, seismic retrofit after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and continued improvements, the Bay Bridge carries over 270,000 vehicles per day on its two decks. It has repaid and reinvested its $77 million price tag many times over in the last 75 years. Most importantly, it has allowed for the growth, progress and unification of the Bay Area's vital urban areas to the benefit of its residents.

Therefore, on behalf of the residents of California's 6th, 9th, 11th, and 13th Congressional Districts, we extend our congratulations on this important milestone. We express immense gratitude to the countless people who have contributed to the continued success of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and wish you all the best in the coming years.

I rise to call on Republicans to wake up to the needs of Americans, millions of Americans, mind you, and to create jobs.

The Republican-led Congress has led almost an entire year without enacting a single piece of jobs legislation. Madam Speaker, America cannot wait.

Republicans continue to ignore the crisis of unemployment and poverty in America and instead keep bringing more bills to bail out the wealthy. Let's stop bailing out Wall Street and bring some real relief to Main Street. Let's stop wasting time pretending that markets can regulate themselves. We need strong oversight so that we have no more Bernie Madoffs and bank bailouts. Let's stop wasting time pretending that tax cuts for the wealthy pay for themselves. We need corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share.

Last week, Madam Speaker, I held a jobs fair. Thousands showed up. People want to work. This is a national emergency. Let's reignite the American dream by passing the American Jobs Act now.

Madam Speaker, again, I rise to bring attention to the Crisis of Poverty in America.

As a founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus, in 2008, I was proud to introduce H. Con. Res. 198, which committed the House of Representatives to setting a goal of cutting poverty in half in ten years. I was proud that the House passed my resolution unanimously.

I hope that together this Congress can take the first steps toward that goal.

The Crisis of Poverty in America is nothing short of a national emergency and we must begin to act like it.

The U.S. Census recently released their supplemental poverty estimates which confirms what every other survey and report has shown, that communities of color continue to face tragically higher rates of poverty than their white counterparts.

27.4 and 26.5 percent of Black and Hispanic communities suffer under poverty respectively when compared to the 9.9 percent rate of their white counterparts. This is no accident, rather the direct result of a long history of disparity and a lack of economic, educational and entrepreneurial opportunity in our communities.

We know that this disparity is reflected in the rates of unemployment, in the ranks of the uninsured, in the impact of health care disparities, in education, in income and in the already vast and expanding wealth gap.

Doing everything that we can to reduce poverty and to end this terrible racial disparity is not only the morally right thing to do, but it is the best way to jump start the economy as well.

There is simply no way forward for our economy that leaves communities of color and the poor behind.

As I said, it is time to take the first step on the road to cutting poverty in half in America.

I have introduced H.R. 3300, the Half in Ten Act of 2011, which 55 of our colleagues have co-sponsored.

My bill would establish the Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty.

The Working Group will develop and implement a national plan to reduce poverty in half in ten years.

They would also work to eliminate child poverty, extreme poverty, and finally bring an end to the historic and on-going disparity in poverty rates in communities of color.

The Half in Ten Act would dramatically improve how the federal government responds to the needs of families in poverty.

It is time to work together to dramatically improve access to opportunity for low income Americans so that they can climb up the economic ladder and reignite the fire of every American Dream.

It is clear that our policies and programs addressing poverty have not kept pace with the growing needs of millions of Americans. It is time we make the commitment to confront poverty head-on, create pathways out of poverty and provide opportunities for all.

I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 3300.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to share the following remarks for the Special Order organized by Congresswoman Marcia Fudge on voter suppression on the night of Tuesday, November 1, 2011:

Let me thank Congresswoman Fudge for her leadership in protecting our democracy and the bedrock of our country: the right to vote.

We are here tonight to sound the alarm because make no mistake about it: the fundamental right to vote, which is at the heart of our democracy, is under attack.

Republican legislators and governors are proposing partisan laws that require voters to show a government-approved photo ID before voting.

I came to this floor after the stolen Presidential election in Florida and Ohio to protest the results of those two elections that were filled with voter suppression.

It worked for the Republicans before, and so legislators in 42 states in our map of shame have doubled-down on these strategies to make it harder for certain communities to vote.

These proposals would disenfranchise 21 million Americans, over one- in-ten eligible voters in America, who do not have adequate identifications.

It is no coincidence that a disproportionate number of these affected voters come from communities of color, as well as the poor, the elderly, and students.

Fully one in four otherwise qualified African Americans would be unable to vote under these voter-ID laws.

In my home state of California, a Voter ID bill was introduced to suppress voter participation. It would cost $26 just to get the required documents to qualify for a government issued ID.

This certainly looks like a poll tax to me, which those of us from the South know and remember is a way to prevent African Americans from voting.

These voter ID laws have a partisan agenda, seeking to disenfranchise and deny specific populations of voters before they have the opportunity to elect their representatives in government.

These partisan laws are shameful and a disgrace to our country.

If these Republican lawmakers were truly concerned with fighting voter fraud, they would take on actual, documented problems such as distributing fliers with false information meant to trick voters, improperly purging voters, or tampering with election equipment and forms.

Instead, they are pushing laws designed to change election outcomes by reducing voting, repressing turnout, and regressing us backwards in history.

We will continue to press the Justice Department for a vigilant and aggressive investigation to protect the civil rights and the voting rights of Americans.

We cannot and must not allow our democracy to be undermined.

We must unmask these shameful attempts to disenfranchise voters.

Let's stop these partisan efforts that strike at the core of our democracy.

Let's win this war against voters.

We are better than that!

I thank my colleagues for their calls to protect the right to vote for all citizens across this nation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleague Congressman Rangel to honor the extraordinary life of Professor Derrick Bell, a bold legal scholar, educator, author, activist, veteran, husband, father, brother, mentor and friend, Prof. Bell was a preeminent intellectual and a fearless harbinger of change. He was a man who inspired many to advocate for civil rights, hiring equity and judicial reform, and his stories of individual protest will be a timeless call to action for all who stand for justice. With his passing on October 5, 2011 we look to Prof. Bell's continued legacy and the outstanding quality of his life's work.

Derrick Albert Bell, Jr., was born to Derrick Albert and Ada Elizabeth Childress Bell on November 6, 1930 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Schenley High School and became the first member of his family to attend college, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1952 from Duquesne University. In 1957, after serving as an Air Force officer for two years, Prof. Bell earned his law degree at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, where he was the only African- American student.

With the recommendation of U.S. Associate Attorney General William Rogers, Prof. Bell took a position with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was the only black staff member. When, in 1959, the Department asked him to relinquish his membership to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Prof. Bell resigned. This would be the first of several high-profile resignations proffered in protest of racial injustice. He soon joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where he oversaw more than 300 school desegregation cases in Mississippi.

In the mid-1960s, Prof. Bell served as faculty and executive director of the University of California's Western Center on Law and Poverty. In 1969, partially as a result of black students' protests for a minority faculty member, Prof. Bell was recruited to teach at Harvard University--where he shortly became the ivy league school's first black tenured professor. He established new coursework and law review articles dedicated to civil rights law, became an invaluable mentor to students of color and called on the university to improve its minority hiring record. In 1973, he published, ``Race, Racism and American Law,'' a book that became a staple in law schools and is now in its sixth edition.

In 1980 Prof. Bell left Harvard to become one of the first African- American deans of a non-historically black law school at the University of Oregon School of Law. However, he resigned five years later when the school did not offer a position to an Asian American woman. After returning to Harvard in 1986, he led a five-day sit-in inside his office to protest the school's failure to grant tenure to two professors whose work involved critical race theory. Moreover, in 1990 he took an unpaid leave of absence, pledging not to return until Harvard Law School asked a woman of color to join tenured faculty for the first time. (Eight years later, Professor Lani Guinier achieved that milestone.)

By the time the school refused to extend his leave, Prof. Bell was already teaching at New York University School of Law, where he continued to be a visiting professor until his passing. Professor Derrick Bell's long legacy as a pioneer of critical race theory and as an unwavering upholder of principles, earned him a comparison by then Harvard law student Barack Obama, as a civil rights hero akin to Rosa Parks.

Today, California's 9th Congressional District and New York's 15th Congressional District salute and honor Professor Derrick Albert Bell, Jr. He dedicated his life to challenging academic paradigms and seeking justice for the systemically marginalized. His legacy will serve as a reminder that we must not be afraid to ask critical questions and to defend individual principles on behalf of future generations. We extend our deepest condolences to Professor Bell's family and to his extended group of loved ones. He will be deeply missed.

I rise again today, as I've been doing every week, to sound the alarm on poverty in America. Twelve Members of Congress are or will be participating in the food stamp challenge, which is a nationwide effort to bring attention to the needs of the 45 million Americans who are receiving food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps. For 1 week, we lived on the food budget of the average food stamp recipient, or $31.50 a week, $4.50 a day, which means I spent on average $1.50 a meal. This is for 1 week.

Let me thank Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Tim Ryan, Joe Courtney, Jan Schakowsky, Donna Christensen, Alcee Hastings, Keith Ellison, Jim Moran, Jackie Speier, Ted Deutch, Marcia Fudge, and Eleanor Holmes Norton for their participation and their commitment to drawing attention to the struggle of millions of hardworking families to put food on the table during very difficult economic times.

We faced limited food choices, lacked access to fresh and healthy foods, and were repeatedly exposed to unhealthy and inadequate food choices that promote poor health, obesity, and hypertension. But of course, our week will end.

I hope that every Member of Congress will stop for at least a moment and consider the millions of American families who will face these challenges each and every day until they can find a good job with a real living wage.

Now, I'm a former food stamp recipient, and let me tell you that I was deeply thankful for my fellow Americans who were there for me and my children during a difficult time in our lives. The benefits that were extended to us were a critical help and provided a vital bridge over troubled waters when we needed them the most. But we didn't want to stay on food stamps forever, and we got off as soon as we could.

Let me also say that now is not the time to gut these critical human needs programs. We are facing record poverty levels and unacceptably high unemployment rates, and it is simply unconscionable to attempt to balance the budgets on the backs of the most vulnerable and the neediest Americans.

We must create what is being called a circle of protection around these core programs that keep American families from suffering the worst impacts of living in poverty.

But we must do more than just minimize the cuts to programs. We must make bold, targeted investments that will lift those families up and off of food stamps. We must improve and extend programs that create jobs and provide ladders of opportunity for all. We must commit ourselves to removing barriers, and they're many, to opportunity like poverty and hunger so that we can reignite the American Dream.

Mr. Speaker, on January 22, 2008, the House unanimously passed a resolution that I authored which committed Congress to the goal of cutting poverty in America in half in a decade. Now it's time to put that commitment to the test.

An estimated 46 million Americans were living in poverty in 2010; and according to the latest Census figures, the official poverty rate in 2010 is now 15.1 percent.

It is simply unconscionable that the richest and most powerful Nation in the world can allow so many of its fellow Americans to fall to the wayside and be left with little hope and few opportunities to reach the American Dream. It's clear that our policies and programs addressing poverty have not kept pace with the growing needs of millions of Americans. It's time we make the commitment to confront poverty head on, create pathways out of poverty, and provide opportunities for all.

I've introduced H.R. 3300, the Half in Ten Act of 2011. This bill would establish a Federal interagency working group on reducing poverty. The working group will be tasked with developing and implementing a national plan to reduce poverty in half in 10 years. We really should be talking about eliminating poverty.

It would also work to eliminate child poverty, extreme poverty and finally put an end to the historic and ongoing disparity in poverty rates in communities of color. It's simply unacceptable that communities of color continue to face disturbingly high rates of poverty, with 27.4 percent of African Americans and 26.5 percent of Hispanics living in poverty, compared to their white counterparts, who have a poverty rate of just under 10 percent.

It's time to work together to dramatically improve access to opportunities for low-income Americans so that they can climb up the economic ladder and reignite the fire of the American Dream.

We must put partisanship aside to preserve and extend the vital human needs programs that protect our most vulnerable communities. We cannot and we must not seek to balance the budget on the backs of America's poor, her children and an entire generation of young people, who are really now taking to the streets to protest the fact that they are afraid that theirs will be the first generation in America's history to be less well off than the one before.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the millions of Filipino Americans across America and to recognize October as Filipino American History Month.

Filipinos first arrived on America's shores in the 16th century and they are now the third largest Asian American community in the United States with nearly 4 million Americans of Filipino descent.

Filipino Americans have contributed to the United States in every field of endeavor, like science, medicine, education, business, politics, agriculture, and they have served with distinction in our armed forces.

They continue to enrich American life through their contributions to our arts and culture.

In my home district, the California 9th, there are over 68,000 Filipino Americans and I know that my district is stronger and more successful because of their presence.

I believe that it is important to acknowledge the important role that immigrants play in the fabric of American life and I would encourage the leadership to act quickly on S. Res. 287, to officially designate October 2011 as ``Filipino American Awareness Month.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise to talk about the millions of Americans who woke up this morning facing a separate and unequal America, a separate and unequal America marked not by the American Dream and limitless opportunities, but an America of the unemployed and poverty stricken, an America marked by struggle and fear of the future--the struggle just to find a job, the struggle to keep their home, the struggle to put enough food on the table.

Americans all across the country are struggling and believe that their government is not looking out for their best interests and instead is working just for rich bankers and massive corporations. People across the Nation are losing faith in our democratic processes and, thank goodness, are taking to the streets to tell their friends, neighbors, and their government that much more must be done for the American people and not just for the super rich. They are saying very loudly that the obstacles to achieving the American Dream must be removed. Too many families across our great Nation are wondering for the first time if our children's generation will be left worse off than the generation before it.

I urge the Republican leadership of the House to quickly pass the President's American Jobs Act to restore the American economy and bring some relief to the millions of Americans who are struggling every day just to get by.

Mr. Speaker, more than 46 million Americans will apply for food stamps this month. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, previously known to many as food stamps, provides the average person a benefit of about $133 a month--that's $4.50 a day, $1.50 a meal. There is a Member of the Senate, however, who seems to believe that there might be millions of Americans who are getting rich by applying for food stamps. Let me assure the good Senator from Alabama that it is not fraud that is causing the rising demand for nutrition assistance in America, but the years of failed economic policies that have lined the pockets of corporate billionaires and left average Americans behind. A program with one of the lowest fraud rates of any program in our entire government is not out of control. But let me state as clearly as I can, having to apply for food stamps to put enough food on the table to keep your children from going hungry is not like winning the lottery. One in seven Americans do receive food stamps, but millions more are eligible but don't apply. And I'm certain that each and every family would be willing to trade in their book of food stamps for a decent job with livable wages and benefits.

Mr. Speaker, I'm taking part in the Fourth Annual Food Stamp Challenge, along with several other Members on this side of the aisle-- Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio, Congressman Joe Courtney of Connecticut, Chairman Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge of Ohio, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, and Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin. And I invite every Member of Congress to join us in living for a few days or a week on what a family on food stamps will face every day of the year. I hope that the challenge will open our eyes to the challenges and the struggles of the millions of Americans who face hunger each and every day. Living in poverty and facing food insecurity means missed meals, poor health, and lost productivity.

Even if you choose not to join the Food Stamp Challenge, I encourage you all to stop and consider what it means to have $31.50 to spend on food for the entire week. Stop for a moment and consider that there are over 46 million Americans who have to swallow their pride and ask for help just to put food on the table. As a former recipient of food stamps myself as a single young mom, I know how difficult this is. I did it because I had to do it just to get over some very difficult times. Forty-six million Americans who reached out to their fellow Americans during their time of need--and I thank the American people during my time of need--they were glad to be there to lend a helping hand. We cannot make cuts to SNAP or Medicaid or Social Security right when children and senior citizens need them the most. So I hope that my colleagues take up the Food Stamp Challenge.

I also encourage each Member to join me and the 43 other Members of the Congressional Out-of-Poverty Caucus in ending poverty in America to ensure that no family in our country needs to ever face hunger again. The Out-of-Poverty Caucus is working to reignite the American Dream so that every man, woman, and child is provided the opportunities to achieve the American Dream. But right now, these 47 million people living in poverty and on food stamps need us to protect the safety net.

And for those individuals and persons of faith, we have to remember that this is a moral issue also. I want to remind you of the Scripture, ``To whom much is given, much is expected.'' It's also an economic issue though; for every $1 spent on food stamps, $1.79 is placed into the economy.