For Immediate Release: Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013
Contact: Donna De La Cruz, [email protected] (202) 441-3798

(WASHINGTON)—Republican-sponsored plans to make cuts to programs that assist the poor stand out as particularly heartless as the U.S. Census Bureau today reported that the poverty rate remains at 15 percent, meaning more than 46 million Americans are living at or below the poverty line.

“The House is expected to take up a bill this week that would cut the SNAP/food stamps program by $40 billion over the next 10 years,” said Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director of the Center for Community Change. “This heartless measure would severely harm millions of the most vulnerable Americans, including children and seniors.”

“Congress must repeal the sequester because if they don’t, these across-the-board budget cuts will continue to push more low-income people further into poverty by worsening the jobs crisis and severing the lifeline of critical services,” Bhargava said.

“The number of people living in poverty in America is a moral outrage. To contemplate cuts that would worsen lives of millions of Americans is almost unfathomable,” Bhargava added. “Congress must focus on creating more quality jobs with good benefits, raising the minimum wage, ending any cuts to government aid programs all with a goal of eradicating the scourge of poverty in the U.S.”

The Census Bureau report did show that the number of people with health insurance did not decline in part due to the increase in coverage for young adults up to age 26. Young people can remain on their parents’ health insurance plans thanks to the Affordable Care Act.  These numbers underscore the importance of fully implementing the Affordable Care Act without Republican obstructionism.