‘We Are Sentencing Them To Life-Long Debt’: Lateefah Simon Rails Against Potential Welfare Cuts

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During a House Oversight Committee hearing last week, Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA) spoke of her disapproval for potential cuts to welfare benefits.

Transcript

00:00Thank you. Ms. Simon?

00:04Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to thank the witnesses for being here today.

00:12Where do I even, you know, begin?

00:17The issues surrounding families who are low-income and the working poor,

00:22supporting them in their plight, I believe is what we're all here to do.

00:28But this conversation is extremely troubling.

00:31I came to Congress to represent those families, clearly.

00:36One of those families is the Sioux family in my district.

00:40Multi-generational family in the Bay Area,

00:43and they overcame decades of anti-Asian laws and housing covenants to live the American dream,

00:51a family that bought a home and season tickets to the A's,

00:56although they've left, very, very sad.

00:59But for many families, like this family, changes did happen.

01:05The Sioux family incurred medical bills like my family did, divorce,

01:10and the 2008 recession changed everything, broke down their safety net.

01:16Derek So, he lost his home during that period, and his car,

01:20and he couldn't afford rent on his $1,000 a month income that came from disability once he was disabled.

01:29Today, Derek is leading advocacy efforts for dignified, dignified folks who are too low income to afford rent.

01:38And I'm so thankful for that work.

01:39Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record,

01:43San Francisco Chronicles Homegrown and Homeless in Oakland.

01:50Well, I hope that can go in without...

01:52Oh, sure, yes.

01:53Thank you, sir.

01:55I just want to say, right here in this building,

01:58the daycare workers make $30,000 a year

02:02to take care of the children, school-age children, of members of Congress.

02:07$30,000 a year.

02:09Suppose two of these folks who work are married.

02:13They're married, working in this capital.

02:16They can't afford a one-bedroom in Washington, D.C.

02:19So few people who make laws for the poor have been poor.

02:23Many of you all know that I was a teen mom.

02:25I went to college.

02:26I got food stamps.

02:28$26 a month.

02:30Every other week, I was at the counter putting back food

02:34because, again, people were making policy for poor folks

02:37who had no idea what it was like having to move through an economy

02:42that didn't understand what it was really like to be poor.

02:46I want to be clear.

02:47Those daycare workers in this building,

02:50don't you think they want a better income,

02:52or do you want for them to leave the daycare here in two years?

02:55You want full economies to shift, have people leave.

03:00Because being poor, to many folks in this room, is a crime.

03:04Being poor or doing, literally working at Walmart,

03:08where you still, when you work at Walmart, do you know,

03:10across this country, you still qualify for SNAP.

03:14These low-wage jobs that folks are working with their bodies

03:18cannot afford, healthcare cannot afford the rents in their community.

03:24I apologize to the folks who are watching this,

03:27who are strong and amazing and dutiful and patriotic folks.

03:32Folks are punching down on you, and it's not just not fair.

03:35It is extremely cruel.

03:37The permanence of poverty in this country is clear.

03:40There is a permanence of poverty of folks who, again,

03:42are working day in and day out,

03:44and in my district cannot afford $2,400

03:47for a two-bedroom, for a one-bedroom.

03:52I just want to be cured.

03:53The reality is, and I've been there, being poor is hard.

03:57Being poor is hard.

03:59And the federal government should not be making poverty harder.

04:04When we ask a family that's paying 50% of their income

04:08to rent to afford childcare, I have been there,

04:11and elder care, and medical insurance.

04:14We are sentencing them to lifelong debt,

04:18housing insecurity, and hunger.

04:20I want to be clear that any reduction in SNAP,

04:23any reduction in Medicaid,

04:26any reduction in housing benefits for the working poor,

04:29or services that could be the difference between life and death,

04:34or living on the streets,

04:36for so many vulnerable individuals and families,

04:38is what we're proposing.

04:42President Trump this week, actually last week,

04:46released a budget that would slash housing vouchers,

04:51public housing, housing programs for seniors

04:55and people with disabilities, it's clear.

04:56We've read it.

04:58Cut the LIHEAP, which, regardless, we know,

05:05it helps working families afford heat

05:08in the winter and cool air in the summer.

05:12It would limit homeless individuals

05:14who are at risk of future homelessness

05:18because you want to give a clear-cut cap

05:23on how long these deserving people

05:25need to get out of poverty.

05:27Believe me, I've gotten out of poverty.

05:28It takes longer than two to four years.

05:30My constituents have been clear with me.

05:35They've brought me here

05:36because they're hardworking

05:39and they deserve a government

05:40that's going to work with them

05:42as they move through an economy

05:45that has no idea what it means

05:48to move through poverty.

05:50And I yield back.

05:51I yield back.

05:52I yield back.

06:04I yield back.

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