Byrne, House Colleagues Release Poverty-Fighting Agenda

Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL) joined House Speaker Paul Ryan and other House colleagues today in unveiling a “Better Way” agenda focused on lifting Americans out of poverty.

The agenda was released at a press conference following a roundtable discussion with Bishop Shirley Holloway, who runs House of Help City of Help, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization focused on helping those who suffer from alcohol or drug dependencies. Individuals who have taken part in the House of Help program also participated in the roundtable.

The key points of the “Better Way” agenda to address poverty are:

• Reward work: If you are capable, we will expect you to work or prepare for work.
• Tailor benefits to people’s needs: We will match poverty-fighting programs with your needs so that it’s easier for you to get back on your feet.
• Improve skills and schools: We will make sure that poor kids have more opportunities to succeed at every stage, from childhood through college.
• Plan and save for the future: We will make it easier for you and your family to plan for the future and be retirement-ready.
• Demand results: We will open up the system to accountability and collaboration, backing ideas that work on the front lines.

A transcript of Congressman Byrne’s remarks at today’s press conference can be found below.

Byrne said: “Good morning. My name is Bradley Byrne, and I represent the First District in Alabama.

“Like Andy’s district, I have both inner-city poverty and rural poverty. I served for several years as the chancellor of post-secondary education and the chair of the Workforce Planning Council for the State of Alabama. I have seen what works.

“Let me first give you a quotation: ‘The answer to the welfare crisis is work, jobs, self-sufficiency, and family integrity; not a massive new extension of welfare; not a great new outpouring of guidance counsellors to give the poor more advice.’ That was Senator Robert F. Kennedy fifty years ago. $22 trillion dollars later, and we have not moved the needle on reducing poverty in America.

“Why? Because we treat poverty like it is a chronic, incurable disease. We put out a lot of money to just deal with the effects, or so we think. What we should be about – and what this plan is about – is lifting people out of poverty.

“I have seen it work. I have seen people who are poor receive the job skills that they needed to take advantage of the jobs that were created in 21st century America. They literally get these jobs, and they leave poverty behind them. They leave government dependency behind them.

“That is what we should be all about: giving people the tools they need to live the lives that they want to live instead of just giving them another government program. Even Senator Kennedy understood that so very well and spoke out about it so very elegantly.

“So what I like about this plan, and what I think has such great promise for all of us, is that we get a three-for. We get people a better life by moving them out of poverty. We get to save the taxpayers money because we won’t have to be doling out more money to these programs that don’t work. And third, we super-charge the economy by taking people who are not productive, making them productive, and that lifts up every member of the United States.

“So I applaud the Speaker for this, but most especially Bishop, I applaud you and people like you across America who are committed to poor people as individual human beings. Working together, I know we can lift every one of them out of poverty.”