For Immediate Release

July 6, 2011

Contact: Ricci Graham

(510) 763-0370

Congresswoman Barbara Lee and the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus

Call on President, House and Senate Leadership to Protect Vital Social Services

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-09) joined fellow Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus Co-Chairs, Congressmen Joe Baca, G.K. Butterfield, John Conyers, and Mike Honda, in a letter to President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Senate and House leadership urging them to protect vital services that help the nation's most vulnerable. The following are key excerpts from that letter:

"As you and your colleagues work to consider solutions to our nation's fiscal challenges, we urge you to ensure the protection of social service programs that serve as a life line for our nation's low-income and poor communities who continue to feel the detrimental impact of the economic downturn.

"Poverty has taken on an entirely new face as a result of the financial crisis, the recession, and our nation's slow economic recovery.  The latest statistics estimate 14.3 percent or 43.6 million Americans living in poverty as of 2009, up from 39.8 million in 2008.

"Programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, low-income housing benefits, and earned income tax credit benefits must not be put in jeopardy in the name of deficit reduction, which will only create a greater cost burden to us in the future.

"While we understand the need for fiscal responsibility, we also recognize the need to invest in programs that protect poor and vulnerable communities, especially in the face of economic hardship.

"We simply cannot afford to balance the budget on the backs of the poor."

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