Congresswoman Beatty Stands Up for Americans Living in Poverty

Press Release

Congresswoman Beatty (OH-03) released the following statement regarding her concerns for low-income American families and the need to maintain funding for anti-poverty programs.

Today, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-3) will voice her concerns for Americans living in poverty on the floor of U.S. House of Representatives during the Congressional Black Caucus' (CBC) Special Order Hour, "Lifting Americans out of Poverty." During this hour, Members of the CBC will speak on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on the critical need to maintain funding for anti-poverty programs supporting millions of American families.

Currently, many Americans benefit from anti-poverty programs. The most recent numbers show that more than 46 million Americans are currently living below the poverty line, and that low-income families need assistance now more than ever. At a time when the poverty rate is at a level unseen in the past twenty years, these programs now face the threat of being cut due to budgetary constraints. As conservatives continue to dismantle and eliminate anti-poverty programs entirely, the undercutting of our most susceptible population is at stake.

"Allowing cuts to such programs as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Section-8, and Head Start, will be immediately detrimental to working families. It is unfair and unjust to consciously choose to cut funding to anti-poverty programs on which our most vulnerable families rely to stay above water--and to avoid homelessness and hunger."

"If our best answer to dealing with sequestration, budget constraints and our struggling economy is to turn our backs on low-income families, we are headed in the wrong direction. I urge my colleagues to work in a bipartisan fashion to reach a real humane solution to address poverty in this nation."

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