Political Quotes

“I rise today to join my colleague from New Mexico, Senator Heinrich, in introducing the Two-Generation Economic Empowerment Act. Our bipartisan bill would support an innovative approach to fighting poverty, one that focuses on addressing the needs of children and their parents--two-generations together--in order to help break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Many current conversations about lifting families out of poverty highlight record low unemployment and the booming U.S. economy as proof that we are finally headed in the right direction. I see many encouraging signs, such as the U.S. poverty rate finally in 2018 falling below the pre-recession level and Maine experiencing the largest decline in child poverty in the Nation from 2016 to 2017, but I also know far too many families still struggle financially. Over 38 million people, or about one in eight Americans, lived below the poverty line in 2018. This sadly includes nearly 13 million children, including 35,000 children in Maine. Despite recent progress, Maine's child poverty rate is still higher than all the other New England states. In addition to recognizing the continued need to lift up families and provide a brighter future for our Nation's youth, the economic motivation for addressing intergenerational poverty points to one simple fact--we must do something different. It is estimated that child poverty costs the U.S. between $800 billion and $1.1 trillion a year.…”