Pelosi Remarks at Hearing with Poor People’s Campaign on Poverty in America

Contact: Ashley Etienne/Henry Connelly, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined House Democrats in partnership with the Poor People's Campaign for a hearing on poverty in America. This event follows the Poor People's Campaign's call to House Leaders to convene a bipartisan hearing this month to shine a light on policies that have done harm to our children. In the absence of a bipartisan hearing organized by Speaker Ryan, Leader Pelosi convened this hearing to forge solutions to advance equality, justice and opportunity for all. Below are the Leader's remarks:

Leader Pelosi. Good morning, everyone. We were holding off for a moment to see if technologically we can hear from Reverend [William] Barber because of personal family reasons, he was not able to join us in person, but we wanted to be inspired by him in a telecommunications way. As we prepare that and hope that that will be the case, let me thank all of you for your leadership on this very important issue which is about the character of our country.

I want to acknowledge all of you, my colleagues here, Congresswoman Barbara Lee who has been a champion on this issue establishing her Task Force [on Poverty, Income Inequality & Opportunity], working under the leadership of [Whip] Steny Hoyer who will be joining us, I believe, so I thank them for their leadership as well. We are joined by [Congresswoman] Gwen Moore from Wisconsin, [Congressman] David Price from North Carolina, Congressman [Steve] Cohen from Tennessee, Congressman [John] Sarbanes from Maryland and, hopefully, we will be joined by Reverend Barber.

Let me say this: when we all enter the public arena, we have our motivation, our ‘why.' Why are we engaged in politics, in government? My ‘why' is the one in five children in America who live in poverty.

I have five children. I know what it takes to raise kids. Again, with all the advantages materially, it is still a challenge so if you have material challenge, economic challenge, psychological challenge and the rest and a system that is not receptive to breaking out of that. It's not only awful for those children and their families, it's wrong for our country. And any of us who think we want the best for our children have to understand that we have to have the best for all America's children, in terms of the love, care and security that they may have.

This month, the Poor People's campaign sent a letter to leaders in Congress calling for a hearing on policies that harm America's children. As you powerfully wrote, ‘Somebody has been hurting our children and it has gone on far too long and we won't be silent anymore.' Thank you for that.

That same week, I sent a letter to Speaker Ryan asking him and other House Republicans to join us at this hearing, but how sad and how telling that the House GOP chose not to join us in response. I actually asked him to even have a hearing himself.

As I've said all the time, when people ask me what are the three most important issues facing the Congress, I always say the same thing: our children, our children, our children. Their health, their education, the economic security of their families, a safe and clean environment in which they can thrive, a world of peace in which they can reach their fulfillment. So everything we do is about them and the future.

And elections are about the future as well. Congress has no more sacred duty than defending our young people's health, education and economic security. Yet in the last twenty months, we've had a profound moral failure at the expense of our children, from urban centers to rural towns across America. But we have, again, enough good things to draw on, many shortcomings to face up to. So in any event, without going into some of the assaults on SNAP and Medicaid and CHIP and all the rest, without going into it – except we're going into it – is an assault on our children's well-being.

In any event, Scripture reminds us, suffer little children and [forbid them not to] come unto me. When Christ said suffer, he didn't mean ‘suffer', he meant enable them to come unto me. But others have interpreted it a different way.

[Laughter]

But with those words in our hearts, let us move forward prayerfully and swiftly to put an end to these terrible policies. I've just been informed, my colleagues and our special guests, that Reverend Barber prefers to only do audio and we are set for that.

So let us welcome this great – oh my gosh – I hear that he was absolutely spectacular at the dinner on Saturday! Challenged the conscious of America in a very special way. He is the Co-Chair of the Poor People's Campaign; National Board Member, NAACP; Pastor, Greenleaf Christian Church, Goldsboro, North Carolina for 25 years. A force of nature beyond, again, a challenge to our conscience. But not only that, a man of ideas of how to solve our problems.

With that, I'm pleased to yield to the distinguished Reverend William Barber by audio. Reverend Barber, welcome, we miss you!

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