Poverty in America One Year Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

POVERTY IN AMERICA ONE YEAR FOLLOWING HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA -- (Extensions of Remarks - July 28, 2006)

SPEECH OF
HON. DANNY K. DAVIS
OF ILLINOIS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2006

* Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, before Congress recesses for the month of August, I would like to take a moment of time to call attention to an issue of great importance. As a nation, we are approaching the year anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, two of the most powerful and destructive natural disasters the United States has seen.

* Chaos ensued in the aftermath of the hurricanes; untimely responses to the disaster in addition to inadequate resources turned the situation from a natural into a man-made disaster. As people were fleeing their homes and gathering in camps like refugees without water, food, or adequate shelter--media coverage began to expose the dirty secret of America's working poor. Out of the 5.8 million people from the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama who were directly affected by this devastation, more than one million--nearly one-fifth of those affected--lived in poverty. These atrocities shined the light on poverty in America. People could not ignore it. Indeed, the events made Americans question, ``how is it that so many people, most of them children, are living below the poverty line in the wealthiest country in the world?''

* Upon visiting New Orleans after the Hurricanes, President Bush declared that the nation had a solemn duty to help the poor. But the issue of America's poor was brief in the presidential limelight. Despite the clarity of the problem of poverty that the disasters brought, poverty fails to be a priority for this administration. The war in Iraq is the top priority for this administration, draining the country's resources and taking precedent over the pressing domestic issue of abject poverty in America. Tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, not healthcare and living wages for those who are struggling to make it. Significant cuts to our social safety nets of Medicare and Medicaid. Failure to raise the minimum wage. Time after time, this Administration has promoted legislation that disenfranchises the working poor. The administration had an opportunity to address poverty, and it has shown a complete lack of leadership to do so. Poverty is not a priority for this administration.

* As Members of Congress, we share the responsibility with the executive branch of government to put poverty back on the agenda, to create and fund programs that can help America's forgotten poor. I hope that assisting the poor in fundamental ways will top our legislative agenda when we return. Doing so would be the best tribute to the victims of the recent hurricane disasters to mark the year anniversary of this sad moment in our history.

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