DeLauro Fights for Social Safety Net Programs under Attack by Republicans

WASHINGTON, DC (April 14, 2016) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Co-Chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, today joined Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and other members of the committee to hold a hearing on ‘The Failure of Trickle Down Economics in the War on Poverty.’ During the hearing, DeLauro highlighted the critical services that anti-poverty programs provide to America’s poor and underscored the need to protect them from cuts by Republicans.

Click here to watch her concluding remarks.

Here are Congresswoman DeLauro’s concluding remarks, as delivered:

Thank you Congresswoman Lee, and thank you for the great work that you’ve done already. You don’t just talk about it, you do it.

I want to end where I began.

Child poverty has fallen by 35 percent. Why? It is because of the social safety net—the programs that are out there that all of you have mentioned in some way when you deal with the statistics of poverty.

We are talking about food stamps and nutrition. We are talking about housing assistance. We are talking about Medicaid. We are talking about tax policies, Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit.

All of these efforts need to be expanded instead of being at risk.

And I tell you, and my colleagues will tell you here. The programs are at grave risk. We need to have the outside influence—you’ve got very well-meaning people here—but our institution works when there is external pressure on it. And that’s what we need from the strong voices of people who have gone through this, through the academics, and the people, and the practitioners who are dealing with this every single day.

Let’s add to that list of what we’re doing—increasing the minimum wage, paid sick days, paid leave, affordable child care to folks. And we will see people take those things on—and that housing assistance that you talk about, Dr. Desmond.

And they will take it and run with it. All they need is the opportunity. That’s our job.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for being here today.

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