On 50th Anniversary of the War on Poverty's Launch, Cohen Reflects on Work Ahead
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – On the 50th Anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson declaring “War on Poverty,” Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today applauded the strides made over the last 5 decades but reflected on the work still left to do. According to a new Council of Economic Advisors report, while poverty had declined from nearly 26% of Americans in 1967 to 16% in 2012, nearly 50 million Americans still struggle each day with the economic hardship and social stigma of living in poverty.
“As a nation, we’ve made great progress toward reducing poverty in America in the 50 years since President Lyndon Johnson first declared a ‘War on Poverty,’” said Congressman Cohen. “And though the poverty rate has dropped nearly 10% since 1967, there still remained nearly 50 million American citizens living in poverty as recently as 2012—including more than 13 million children. The travesty that these numbers represent only highlights how much more work we have left ahead of us and the urgency with which it must be addressed.”
The Congressman continued: “We must do more to help people work their way to the American Dream, and that means extending the lifeline of unemployment insurance to more than 1.4 million hardworking Americans struggling to find work and fighting for the 30 million employees still don’t take home a decent wage after a long day’s work. It means preventing draconian cuts to the food stamp programs that would take food out of the mouths of children and seniors, making sure that women receive equal pay for equal work, and creating the good-paying jobs that allow people to get back on their feet. And we must do it now, not at some later date.”