“Nearly 47 million Americans are living in poverty - that includes one in five children. Poverty rates for individuals with a college degree have recently gone up. A family of four is living on less than $24,000 a year on average.
“Think of the impossible choices these families are making every day: transportation to work, childcare, school supplies, food for dinner, housing. They worry about what they will do if they get sick and have no leave, or their car breaks down. And they worry that they are in no position to save for their child’s college, or their own retirement.
“No one should think that we are addressing the crisis of poverty in our country with the bills before us today. This crisis requires far more than the changes in these bills. Today’s proceedings represent another missed opportunity to seriously address poverty in America.
“No action on expanding affordable housing by this Majority.
“No action on paid leave, or equal pay for women.
“No action on increasing the minimum wage, which the Congressional Budget Office has estimated would lift 900,000 people out of poverty.
“No action on making higher education - 2 and 4 year college - more affordable so that Americans can gain the skills needed to climb into the middle class.
“No action to expand early childhood education, or to ensure that parents have access to quality child care.
“No action to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit to include workers without children.
“In fact, the only actions that we have seen from the Republicans are proposals to cut the programs that have kept millions of families out of poverty.
“They propose cuts to food stamps and Social Security. They want to voucherize Medicare and turn Medicaid and CHIP into a block grant. And they’ve voted - I can’t even keep track of how many times - to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which is giving some families peace of mind for the first time.
“Finally, none of today’s bills would actually extend the TANF program. Clearly, TANF must be extended before it expires on September 30th. It would be much more certain if it were part of these bills. The extension should be straightforward, and should not be subjected to uncertainties or maneuvering from the Majority."
