Davis Opening Statement at Field Hearing in Illinois

(As prepared for delivery)

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this field hearing. I am delighted to welcome all of you to my home city of Chicago. I am pleased to be at the Pacific Garden Mission and to have visited Project H.O.O.D. yesterday; both organizations serve people in need so well.

Democrats and President Biden have put helping workers overcome barriers to sustainable, quality employment at the heart of our policies. Even in this time of economic growth where wages have risen and unemployment has been cut in half, too many people are left out – not because they prefer needing government help – but because they face significant barriers to quality employment. Some don’t have child care or need paid leave to deal with an illness or care for an elderly parent. Some lack the skills or education needed for good jobs. Some have jobs but don’t earn enough to make ends meet, like the 6.4 million working poor.  Some made mistakes in the past and can’t get a second chance.  

I am proud that Democrats provided emergency aid to preserve child care centers and permanently increased federal child care investment by over $600 million a year, about $20 million of it here in Illinois. I am proud that Democrats expanded the Child Tax Credit that slashed child poverty to just 5.2 percent in Illinois. Unfortunately, that poverty-cutting Child Tax Credit expired due to Republican inaction, and child poverty is back up to 12.4 percent – an unacceptable outcome. 

If our goal is to support work to help people escape poverty, then people don’t need more penalties, requirements, and paperwork. Parents need guaranteed child care and paid family and medical leave that we know substantially increase workforce participation among women. People need a safe place to live, food to eat, reliable transportation, good education, and health care to obtain the stability needed to work successfully. I strongly disagree with those that blame people for their poverty and suggest that the solution is low- or no-wage jobs with work requirements to make sure they don’t develop a “dependency mentality”. Denying people food, housing, enough money to pay the rent, and making them work for free doesn't give them dignity.

I am proud to showcase the work done at the Safer Foundation to overcome the systemic barriers faced by justice-involved individuals so they can get good jobs and turn their lives around. I worked with Safer to set up an amazing program to help people with records obtain careers in health care. The program involves intensive training coupled with legal services, support services, technical assistance for businesses, and job placement services. Over 3 years, the initiative placed 113 clients with 71 employers and achieved a 93 percent retention rate over 2 years. Our Subcommittee should support programs like Safer that methodically address the multiple barriers that struggling workers face.

As we sit in a mission, I am reminded of 2017 when the Republican Congress enacted a bill to tax faith-based organizations on the value of their parking and benefits provided to employees to pay for tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations. I heard a lot from faith-based organizations in Illinois about the “church parking tax.”  Democrats repealed this tax in 2019, but the wealthy who benefitted from those tax breaks will soon ask Congress to extend their tax cuts. My hope is that my Republican colleagues will protect the programs that help people live with dignity and not make them subsidize tax cuts for the wealthy again.

As a Black American who grew up in the segregated south and who came to Chicago for the opportunities that were not as available in the south, I know first-hand how systemic barriers limit opportunities. It has been my honor to devote my Congressional career to work like we do in this Subcommittee to help those who are struggling to overcome systemic barriers with the education, jobs, child care, paid family and medical leave, and other supports so that they can thrive.  I appreciate the opportunity to talk about our work here, in my community. Thank you.