2014 -- S 2006

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LC003341

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF PRESIDENT LYNDON BAINES

JOHNSON'S STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH ON JANUARY 8, 1964, IN WHICH HE

DECLARED A "WAR ON POVERTY" AND INTRODUCED LEGISLATION TO DECREASE

HUNGER AND POVERTY IN THE UNITED STATES, AND TO INCREASE ACCESS TO

QUALITY HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

     Introduced By: Senators Paiva Weed, and Goldin

     Date Introduced: January 08, 2014

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, In a nation as abundantly blessed as the United States is, and has been, in

important resources such as high quality farm land and abundant food production, as well as

being rich in energy resources and a high quality standard of living for most, it is immoral and

unethical to leave behind millions of people who suffer daily living in substandard housing, are

malnourished, and have little to no access to decent healthcare. A substantial majority of those

living in the shadows of life are women and the children they are raising; and

     WHEREAS, In 1964 America had an astonishingly high poverty rate of 19 percent,

despite the Post-World War Two economic boom that produced a strong economy from the late

1940s to the late 1960s. It was precisely this economic inequality that concerned President

Lyndon Johnson, and many millions of American people, in 1964 when President Johnson

declared a "War on Poverty". President Johnson introduced numerous pieces of legislation that

became law and are recognized today by most as having been monumentally influential in

reducing the rate of poverty in America; and

     WHEREAS, Medicare and Medicaid were passed in 1965 and, as a result, all of our

senior citizens aged 65 and older are guaranteed access to hospital care, and low-income people

for the first time in American history attained access to healthcare services. The Food Stamp Act

guaranteed that most people living in poverty would receive supplemental aid in order to feed

themselves and their loved ones living with them. Head Start was a life-changing law that when

passed, guaranteed that at-risk poor children would receive early access to education as a way to

help them and their families avoid repeating the cycle of poverty that is harming so many of our

communities. President Johnson also passed other significant anti-poverty laws such as the Job

Corps, the Community Action Program, and Volunteers in Service to America; and

     WHEREAS, In the decade following the passage of these landmark "War on Poverty"

laws, the poverty rate in America decreased from 19% to 11.1% and has remained between

11.1% and 15.2% ever since. However, much more still needs to be done, as can be seen in the

highly praised documentary "Inequality for all", a documentary that shows that despite the gains

made in the struggle against poverty in the last 50 years, America still tragically has millions of

people who are malnourished, live in substandard housing or are homeless, and lack access to

decent healthcare. This documentary will be hosted by Rhode Island Senate President M. Teresa

Paiva Weed and Rhode Island House Speaker Gordon D. Fox today, January 8, 2014, in the

House Lounge at the Rise of the House and Senate. This documentary is being shown at State

Legislatures across the nation in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the War on Poverty. This

documentary was presented at the Sundance Film Festival by the distinguished economist, author,

professor and former Secretary of Labor for President Clinton, Robert Reich. It won a United

States Documentary Special Jury Award for Achievement in Filmmaking; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the "War on Poverty" that was declared on January

8, 1964 by President Lyndon Baines Johnson; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of state be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Neera Tanden, President of the Center for

American Progress.

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