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Dear Leader Pelosi and Leader Reid:
On behalf of the National Urban League and its 98 affiliates in 36 states and the District of Columbia, I thank you for your unwavering defense of the programs that form the bedrock of America’s middle and working classes which have helped to propel many in our urban communities to self sufficiency.
As Congress begins the process of setting up a new “super committee” to identify an additional $1.2 to $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction, we urge that you take this opportunity to appoint members to the committee who meet the following key criteria:
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First and foremost, they must represent the views of all Americans and reflect the diversity of this nation, specifically we request that you include a member of the Congressional Black Caucus; - Second, members must be willing to do battle against program cuts that impact Americans in the areas of job training, aid to education, housing, health, and community and economic development;
- Third, members must stand firm on the principle of a fair, balanced and effective solution to the issue of job creation and budget deficits – i.e. who must insist that tax reform/revenues are part of the solution; and
- Fourth, members who have the vision and courage to be innovative in promoting real job growth investments that have lifetime and generational lasting effects, such as the notion of a national infrastructure bank – an idea listed among the President’s top job creation approaches and long supported by the National Urban League. We believe an infrastructure bank could play an important role in our economically underserved urban areas – especially in the cities where our affiliates are located.
The decisions of the new “super committee” will have tremendous implications for the economic stability and very future of our country. For African Americans, the decisions of the “super committee” will have a direct impact on the very foundations of our communities.
In a new National Urban League report, “At Risk: The State of the Black Middle Class,”(July 2011) we found that the great recession has begun to dismantle the crown jewel achievement of racial advancement in America – a strong black middle class. Our analysis clearly shows that whether one looks at education, income or any other meaningful measure, almost all the economic gains that blacks have made in the last 30 years have been lost in the Great recession that started in December 2007, and in the anemic recovery that has followed since June 2009. This means that the size of the black middle class is shrinking, the fruits that come from being in the black middle class are dwindling, and the ladders of opportunity for reaching the black middle class are disappearing. Our affiliates have seen this trend firsthand, as they served 2.6 million people in 2010.
With the debt ceiling issue behind us, Congress and the Administration must now turn its attention to our top priority of putting 14 million unemployed people back to work in order to secure a lasting economic recovery.
On behalf of the National Urban League and our affiliates, I thank you for your courage, leadership and concern for urban communities.
Respectfully,
Marc H. Morial
President and CEO
Click here to read the committee letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Click here to read the committee letter to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
