John Kerry: “I come to the floor today to support extending a critically needed program that provides hope to 250,000 of our poorest…”

“I come to the floor today to support extending a critically needed program that provides hope to 250,000 of our poorest families. I am joined by Senators Durbin, Casey, Sherrod Brown, Bingaman, Burris, Harkin, Leahy, Boxer, Menendez, Reed and Dodd in offering the Job Preservation for Parents in Poverty Act, which simply provides a 3-month extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF, Emergency Contingency Fund. The $500 million in funding needed to pay for this extension is offset with corresponding reductions to the regular TANF Contingency Fund in fiscal year 2012. We have suffered through the worst recession since the great depression. Just this month, the Census Bureau reported that nearly 44 million Americans--1 in 7--lived in poverty last year. This represents the largest number of Americans living in poverty since the Census Bureau began keeping these statistics 51 years ago. The TANF Emergency Fund was created as part of the Recovery Act enacted last year to provide temporary, targeted, emergency spending that combats the recession by helping to create jobs for our poorest families.”