Expressing support for designation of the month of May 2021 as "National Child Poverty Prevention Month".

IV 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 401 Expressing support for designation of the month of May 2021 as ‘‘National Child Poverty Prevention Month’’. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 14, 2021 Mr. RUSH (for himself, Ms. BASS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. HIG- GINS of New York, Ms. JACOBS of California, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. NEWMAN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. TORRES of New York, and Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia) submitted the fol- lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform RESOLUTION Expressing support for designation of the month of May 2021 as ‘‘National Child Poverty Prevention Month’’. Whereas child poverty refers to the share of children under age 18 who live in families with incomes below the Fed- eral poverty level; Whereas approximately 1 in 6 children under the age of 18 lives below the Federal poverty level, totaling 11,900,000 children; Whereas 15.5 percent of children under the age of 5 were liv- ing in poverty in 2019, the latest year with publicly avail- able data; VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR401.IH HR401 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 401 IH Whereas children who live in poverty are often subject to other adverse circumstances including homelessness, in- cluding 1,500,000 children in the 2017–2018 academic school year; Whereas children who live in poverty are often subject to other adverse circumstances including abuse; Whereas children who live in poverty can face long-term neg- ative outcomes, including poverty as an adult and lifelong health consequences; Whereas lost productivity, worsened health, and increased crime stemming from child poverty cost the Nation about $700,000,000,000 dollars a year, or about 3.5 percent of GDP; Whereas the COVID–19 public health emergency has in- creased the likelihood of child poverty; Whereas, since May 2020, the share of children with at least 1 unemployed parent has consistently remained above rates reported during the peak of the Great Recession, with more than 4 in 10 children living in a household struggling to meet basic expenses; and Whereas recent studies suggest that food insecurity has in- creased among families with children by 280 percent: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) supports the designation of National Child 2 Poverty Prevention Month; 3 (2) recognizes the national impact of the preva- 4 lence of poverty among America’s children; 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR401.IH HR401 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 401 IH (3) supports intervention and prevention efforts 1 to reduce the number of children in the United 2 States suffering from poverty; and 3 (4) calls on the people of the United States to 4 observe National Child Poverty Prevention Month 5 with appropriate programs and actives that promote 6 awareness and prevention of child poverty in com- 7 munities across the country. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR401.IH HR401 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS