Blog: Having the Power, We Have the Duty

Statement

It has been 47 years since America declared War on Poverty. In 1964, another time of military and economic challenge in America, President Lyndon Johnson understood that the gulf between the "haves" and "have-nots" had grown too wide and proposed a program equal to the moment.

In a speech proposing a new Office of Economic Opportunity, President Johnson said, "What you are being asked to consider is not a simple or an easy program. But poverty is not a simple or an easy enemy. It cannot be driven from the land by a single attack on a single front. … If this were so, we would have conquered poverty long ago. But today, for the first time in our history, we have the power to strike away the barriers to full participation in our society. Having the power, we have the duty."

President Johnson's words still ring true to me today. We know that 15 million Americans are living in poverty. That includes one in five children, 27 percent of African-Americans and 26 percent of Latinos. We also know the poverty rate for families headed by single mothers is 41 percent, compared to nine percent for married couples. We must do more to help these women.

At a time when our politics can seem so small, I am proud to work for a President who continues to think big.

I chair the President's Interagency Council on Homelessness. The Obama administration has set the ambitious goal of preventing and ending homelessness by 2020. We've made record investments in initiatives to end homelessness across all populations: families with children, youth, veterans and those who've experienced chronic homelessness.

I was proud to stand with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan this fall and announce that we've ended or prevented homelessness for one million Americans under President Obama. This milestone was the result of a $1.5 billion investment in HUD's rapid re-housing program. It was the result of thinking big.

Without the Recovery Act, millions more would have fallen into poverty. Our efforts to expand unemployment insurance provided $167 billion in benefits to 17 million Americans. It's the longest-lasting emergency unemployment program in American history. The Recovery Act provided incentives for states to expand UI coverage to part-time workers and new workers. This kept 3.2 million Americans from falling into poverty last year.

But the single most important thing we can do to fight poverty in America is create more good jobs. The poverty rate for full-time, year-round workers is just 2.6 percent. We need a recipe for growth that values hard work and creates opportunities for those who are willing to do it.

Last year alone, the Labor Department provided training and employment services to some 39 million Americans to help them find good jobs that pay family-sustaining wages. We're investing billions of dollars in our community college system to provide an affordable education that can launch sustainable careers for our unemployed.

But we need to do more than just create any jobs. That isn't good enough--not if they don't pay enough to feed your family, make rent, go to school or take a sick child to the doctor.

Since my first day as Labor Secretary, my motto has been "good jobs for everyone." After being sworn in, I added 350 new Wage and Hour investigators to help ensure workers are paid properly for the work they've already done. This is an important part of our strategy to keep hard-working Americans out of poverty.

At the Labor Department, we've also focused more of our Wage and Hour cases on what we call enterprise-wide enforcement. If an employer is violating minimum wage laws in one workplace, we think it's likely they're engaging in the same practice in other company locations. So we're seeking injunctions to ensure that an employer complies with the law across all of its operations, and we're seeking back wages across all of a company's workplaces.

During the last fiscal year, we collected a quarter-billion dollars in back wages for working men and women all over this country. Our industry-wide compliance approach is a powerful tool to level the playing field and help vulnerable workers. During these difficult economic times, every dollar that workers are entitled to is even more crucial.

Soon, we expect a Senate vote on provisions in the American Jobs Act that target our poverty crisis. There will be a vote on extending unemployment insurance to keep 6 million Americans from losing their benefits. This is the right thing to do and the wise thing to do. Extending benefits will prevent many from going under the poverty line, and it will also stimulate spending and the economy as a whole. For every dollar we put into the pockets of the unemployed, $2 of economic activity is generated.

There also will be a vote for a $3.5 billion fund for job programs targeted to disadvantaged communities. This includes $1.5 billion for summer and year-round employment to create a half-million jobs for young people. We also expect a vote to give employers incentives to hire the long-term unemployed.

We're in a fight for the heart and soul of this country. It's a fight about whether we're still a country willing to do big things. Our history is filled with examples of the good we can do when we unite behind strategies to tackle poverty in America.

To paraphrase President Johnson a half-century ago: Because it is right, because it is wise and because it is possible to conquer poverty, we have an obligation to act.

Having the power, we have the duty.

Source