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‘We Are Sentencing Them To Life-Long Debt’: Lateefah Simon Rails Against Potential Welfare Cuts
Forbes Breaking News
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5/13/2025
During a House Oversight Committee hearing last week, Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA) spoke of her disapproval for potential cuts to welfare benefits.
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00:00
Thank you. Ms. Simon?
00:04
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to thank the witnesses for being here today.
00:12
Where do I even, you know, begin?
00:17
The issues surrounding families who are low-income and the working poor,
00:22
supporting them in their plight, I believe is what we're all here to do.
00:28
But this conversation is extremely troubling.
00:31
I came to Congress to represent those families, clearly.
00:36
One of those families is the Sioux family in my district.
00:40
Multi-generational family in the Bay Area,
00:43
and they overcame decades of anti-Asian laws and housing covenants to live the American dream,
00:51
a family that bought a home and season tickets to the A's,
00:56
although they've left, very, very sad.
00:59
But for many families, like this family, changes did happen.
01:05
The Sioux family incurred medical bills like my family did, divorce,
01:10
and the 2008 recession changed everything, broke down their safety net.
01:16
Derek So, he lost his home during that period, and his car,
01:20
and he couldn't afford rent on his $1,000 a month income that came from disability once he was disabled.
01:29
Today, Derek is leading advocacy efforts for dignified, dignified folks who are too low income to afford rent.
01:38
And I'm so thankful for that work.
01:39
Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record,
01:43
San Francisco Chronicles Homegrown and Homeless in Oakland.
01:50
Well, I hope that can go in without...
01:52
Oh, sure, yes.
01:53
Thank you, sir.
01:55
I just want to say, right here in this building,
01:58
the daycare workers make $30,000 a year
02:02
to take care of the children, school-age children, of members of Congress.
02:07
$30,000 a year.
02:09
Suppose two of these folks who work are married.
02:13
They're married, working in this capital.
02:16
They can't afford a one-bedroom in Washington, D.C.
02:19
So few people who make laws for the poor have been poor.
02:23
Many of you all know that I was a teen mom.
02:25
I went to college.
02:26
I got food stamps.
02:28
$26 a month.
02:30
Every other week, I was at the counter putting back food
02:34
because, again, people were making policy for poor folks
02:37
who had no idea what it was like having to move through an economy
02:42
that didn't understand what it was really like to be poor.
02:46
I want to be clear.
02:47
Those daycare workers in this building,
02:50
don't you think they want a better income,
02:52
or do you want for them to leave the daycare here in two years?
02:55
You want full economies to shift, have people leave.
03:00
Because being poor, to many folks in this room, is a crime.
03:04
Being poor or doing, literally working at Walmart,
03:08
where you still, when you work at Walmart, do you know,
03:10
across this country, you still qualify for SNAP.
03:14
These low-wage jobs that folks are working with their bodies
03:18
cannot afford, healthcare cannot afford the rents in their community.
03:24
I apologize to the folks who are watching this,
03:27
who are strong and amazing and dutiful and patriotic folks.
03:32
Folks are punching down on you, and it's not just not fair.
03:35
It is extremely cruel.
03:37
The permanence of poverty in this country is clear.
03:40
There is a permanence of poverty of folks who, again,
03:42
are working day in and day out,
03:44
and in my district cannot afford $2,400
03:47
for a two-bedroom, for a one-bedroom.
03:52
I just want to be cured.
03:53
The reality is, and I've been there, being poor is hard.
03:57
Being poor is hard.
03:59
And the federal government should not be making poverty harder.
04:04
When we ask a family that's paying 50% of their income
04:08
to rent to afford childcare, I have been there,
04:11
and elder care, and medical insurance.
04:14
We are sentencing them to lifelong debt,
04:18
housing insecurity, and hunger.
04:20
I want to be clear that any reduction in SNAP,
04:23
any reduction in Medicaid,
04:26
any reduction in housing benefits for the working poor,
04:29
or services that could be the difference between life and death,
04:34
or living on the streets,
04:36
for so many vulnerable individuals and families,
04:38
is what we're proposing.
04:42
President Trump this week, actually last week,
04:46
released a budget that would slash housing vouchers,
04:51
public housing, housing programs for seniors
04:55
and people with disabilities, it's clear.
04:56
We've read it.
04:58
Cut the LIHEAP, which, regardless, we know,
05:05
it helps working families afford heat
05:08
in the winter and cool air in the summer.
05:12
It would limit homeless individuals
05:14
who are at risk of future homelessness
05:18
because you want to give a clear-cut cap
05:23
on how long these deserving people
05:25
need to get out of poverty.
05:27
Believe me, I've gotten out of poverty.
05:28
It takes longer than two to four years.
05:30
My constituents have been clear with me.
05:35
They've brought me here
05:36
because they're hardworking
05:39
and they deserve a government
05:40
that's going to work with them
05:42
as they move through an economy
05:45
that has no idea what it means
05:48
to move through poverty.
05:50
And I yield back.
05:51
I yield back.
05:52
I yield back.
06:04
I yield back.
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