Congresswoman Jacobs Joins Colleagues in Announcing Transformative Anti-Poverty Resolution
Jacobs is original co-sponsor of resolution calling for commitment to fully address poverty and ensure economy works for everyone
Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53) joined Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-13), Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07) and Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign, to announce a new House Resolution on the need to address poverty in America.
Titled “Third Reconstruction: Fully Addressing Poverty and Low Wages from the Bottom Up,” the resolution shines a light on the needs of the 140 million Americans who are living in poverty, low-wealth, or one emergency away from severe hardship, and calls for a new policy agenda to build prosperity from the bottom up. Congresswoman Jacobs is an original co-sponsor.
Before coming to Congress, Congresswoman Jacobs founded San Diego for Every Child, a non-profit coalition focused on ending childhood poverty in San Diego County.
Congresswoman Jacobs’ remarks at the press conference were as follows:
Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, and I’m honored to be here with some of the leading voices in our country speaking out for a more just society.
Thank you, Congresswoman Lee and Congresswoman Jayapal, for introducing this resolution and Reverend Barber and Reverend Theoharris for being here today, and all the work you've done to end poverty.
This resolution is about justice, it's about creating a new approach to government, and reimagining the kind of society that we want to have.
Before I came to Congress, I founded a nonprofit coalition focused on ending the experience of childhood poverty in San Diego County. You know, we've heard a lot of stories today.
But let me tell you a little bit about San Diego County. We are one of the wealthiest counties in the country, we have Fortune 500 companies, we have mansions on the beach. And yet, we have more than 40 percent of our kids who are living in families experiencing poverty, even before the pandemic.
And it isn't just in one pocket, one community, or one part. It impacts every single zip code in San Diego County and every single zip code in the United States of America.
And that's why the Poor People's Campaign is so necessary and this resolution is so important.
Because for too long, we haven't talked about poverty, we haven't centered the voices of those who are experiencing it.
Instead, we blamed and punished people experiencing poverty, we put the burden on them to access the services that they're eligible for. We've focused on piecemeal approaches that don't actually address the problem. And then when they failed, we blamed the people experiencing poverty itself.
I'm proud to represent the millennial generation in Congress, a generation that's living through our second economic crisis of our adult lives, and one that knows that we cannot work around the edges any longer.
We have to think differently and reimagine a better future.
We have to reimagine and rebuild a more just and equitable society. One that invests in our future and builds prosperity from the bottom up.
We have to build a safety net that focuses on dignity and empowerment. We know that the problems we're facing are deep, structural, systemic and interlocking. But what we see in this resolution and in this movement is hope.
Because we can't be overwhelmed by these harsh realities. We need to let the depth of this problem compel us to get started, to start working, to start acting.
We've heard from a lot of leaders. In my faith tradition, we have a saying, “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Love justly now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to finish the task, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
And let me say one more thing. While this resolution and this movement very rightly centers the voice of people experiencing poverty, it cannot only be the voice of people experiencing poverty who are calling for change.
It is on all of us, especially those of us who have benefited from the system as it is, to push for a fairer and more just America. And I'm so honored to be working with you all on this resolution that shows us the way and shows us how we can make a difference.
Thank you all so much.