Political Quotes

“I come to the floor this afternoon to talk about the fact that 50 years ago today President Lyndon Johnson made his first State of the Union Address. He used that date--January 8, 1964--to chart a new agenda for the country and to declare that America would take on an unconditional war on poverty. With that directive, Congress worked on some of the most successful programs in the history of our country: Medicare, Head Start, Pell grants, and expansions to Social Security. President Johnson knew that the devastation of poverty went deeper than just the lack of a job or the lack of basic needs. Americans in poverty didn't even have a fair chance to make a better life for themselves and their families. Now, since 1964, economists estimate the poverty rate has now fallen by 10 percent when accounting for social safety net programs. So we are moving in the right direction, but we have a lot more work to do to give everyone the fair chance they need to succeed in this country. For too many people today, the war on poverty is a daily battle just to make ends meet. More than 46 million people in our country live in poverty--46 million people. That is according to the Census Bureau. More than 20 percent--that is one in five of our kids in this country-- live in poverty. So to win this fight, we need to strengthen the programs that support those in need.…”