Congressional Black Caucus Hour

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLYBURN. I thank the gentlelady for yielding me this time and thank her for her tremendous leadership on this and many other areas that come before this Congress.

I want to take just a few moments to talk about an issue that's very, very important to a significant number of citizens in our great country. The Wharton School of Business recently held a conference named in honor of Whitney Young, a leader and friend in the struggle for social justice, equality, and civil rights. Whitney Young is probably known best for growing and transforming the Urban League from a sleepy little organization into one of the country's biggest and most aggressive crusaders for social justice.

What he is less known for is his call for a ``domestic Marshall Plan,'' a program to eradicate poverty and deprivation in the United States, similar to the Marshall Plan that was launched to reconstruct Europe after World War II. I would like to use that call for a domestic Marshall Plan as a jumping-off point for my remarks this evening.

Some of Whitney Young's ideas were incorporated into President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty over 40 years ago, yet the scourge is still with us. Before the War on Poverty and the Great Society, we had the New Deal. All of these investments in America helped to move us forward as a Nation. But some communities have been left behind each time, and we have begun to call them ``persistent poverty communities,'' places that have had more
than 20 percent of their populations living beneath the poverty level for more than 30 years.

Approximately 15 percent of all coun
[Page: H748]ties in America qualify as persistent poverty counties under this definition. These counties are diverse and spread across the country, including Appalachian communities in Kentucky and West Virginia; Native American communities in South Dakota and Alaska; Latino communities in Arizona and New Mexico; African American communities in Mississippi and South Carolina; and urban communities in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and St. Louis.

Democrats represent 149 of these counties, with a total population of 8.7 million. Republicans represent 311 of these counties, with a total population of 8.3 million. Fourteen, with a total population of 5.3 million, are split between Democrats and Republicans.

A total of 43 Democrats and 84 Republicans represent at least a part of one of these counties. Thirty-five of the 50 states have at least one persistent poverty county. Fifteen of South Carolina's 46 counties meet this ignoble distinction, and seven of them are in the Sixth Congressional District that I proudly represent.

This is not a red state or a blue state issue. That's why in the map beside me the persistent poverty communities are colored in purple because poverty knows no political affiliation. Poverty has never been limited to race, region, or creed.

For many years, counties along the I-95 corridor in South Carolina were passed over for economic development. Federal funds found their way to South Carolina, but mysteriously did not find their way into the Sixth Congressional District.

The I-95 corridor is plagued with health disparities. The Sixth District has the dubious distinction of leading the State in incidents of stroke, heart disease, and diabetes. We lead the State in amputations for both adult and juvenile diabetes. This region is known as the buckle of the stroke belt, and is home to the highest rate of prostate cancer deaths among black males in the South.

Scientists tell me that many of these health problems are directly related to water quality. In some of these places in my district, the water is not fit for human consumption. One particular instance in which my office was involved, the Health Department would not allow a water hookup to a home because of the contamination. Yet, the people still drink the water because they have no choice.

Two years ago I offered a provision in the Rural Development section of the Recovery Act that we called the 10-20-30 formula. It stipulated that at least 10 percent of the funds be targeted to counties where at least a 20 percent poverty rate has persisted for the past 30 years. The formula is working.

Marion County, South Carolina, received a $3 million loan and a $4.7 million grant to build 71 miles of water lines, and three water projects in Orangeburg County benefited from this formula, including a $5.6 million grant to bring potable water to these communities. Citizens in these counties will soon be enjoying their first clean glass of water from the faucet, free of contaminants and pollutants, thanks to this formula.

In the coming days and weeks, I will personally reach out to all 127 Members who represent persistent poverty counties in hopes of bringing together a bipartisan task force to ensure that these areas are not overlooked as we emerge from the recession. Hopefully, this task force will work to build on the success of the 10-20-30 formula in the rural development program by extending it to all Federal departments with grant-making authority going forward.

I thank my friend from the Virgin Islands for allowing me to speak about this important issue today.

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