Capitol Journal - Poverty
Capitol Journal - Poverty
Capitol Journal - Poverty
Capitol Journal - Poverty
House Select Committee of Children, Youth and Families.
Capitol Journal - Poverty
Representative George Miller ( D California ) The Congress is about 18 months behind the American public. The American public has had enough of the homeless, of deprived children, of hungry children. They want this dealt with. That may mean new taxes. I don t know. It may be trading off other areas of the budget. Clearly we can do that. But what is more important than that is arriving at a political consensus that you cannot continue the current policy which is cheap but very expensive in terms of the children it is devouring in this country.
Capitol Journal - Poverty
Marian Wright Edelman, Director of the Children's Defense Fund. The Federal government has been taking away their benefits and giving them to the non-poor. We re giving them to the military. Not only have we had this dramatic increase in child poverty, this increase in federal tax burden and growing unemployment then you have a federal government that s been cutting back on benefits. We have lost $10 billion a year in federal programs for poor children and poor families at a time when the need had increased.
Capitol Journal - Poverty
Charles Murray, author. You have kids who clearly are not to blame for the situation they re in. They re innocent. They need help. So I, like everyone else says, they have to get help. At the same time, the suffering of children yet to be born is not irrelevant to this. And if by providing the kinds of assistance in the way we provide it now we are creating another generation that s going to grow up with the same problems. I argue with you don t tell me I m not being compassionate because I want to get tougher with the current generation until you accept the burden of the suffering that you may be perpetuating.
Capitol Journal - Poverty
Representative George Miller ( D California ) The child that doesn t get an opportunity at Headstart that is qualified, we can now document after watching these children for 25 years. They use our welfare system more. They use our criminal justice system, our juvenile justice system, our unemployment lines more than the child that had Headstart. Would you like to invest a few dollars in Headstart or a lot of dollars down the road over the life of that individual?
Capitol Journal - Poverty
Shelia Wood, resident of Washington DC, Potomac Gardens housing project, Set your eyes, and I mean be realistic. Don t come with no if ands and buts we might have this and I do believe a certain amount of kids out here. No, it s a whole lot of kids out here that need your help. Just like those people over there, thousands and thousands of miles across the water need your help. We need your help. We are your people. We re the ones that put you in office."
Capitol Journal - Poverty
Charles Murray, author. Pat Moynihan I think has some good ideas. And in some cases I would say let s do what Senator Moynihan wants to do because it s better than what we ve got now. But if you ask me do I think that s going to make any difference in an 80% illegitimacy rate in inner city Black communities? My answer is no. It may chip away one or two percentage points.
Capitol Journal - Poverty
Representative George Miller ( D California ) To take Charles Murray s proposal, really as someone who has all of the courage but rather have the other person suffer the pain. And to use children as cannon fodder to prove his theoretical proposition is unacceptable in America.
Capitol Journal - Poverty
Shelia Wood, resident of Washington DC, Potomac Gardens housing project I guarantee you, some kind of way or somehow, we'll get out of here one day. And when we do I'll be one happy soul"