Instead of remaining neutral, South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn (D) is being encouraged to endorse a presidential candidate. His comments yesterday on CNN about that possibility are worth noting. When asked what key issues Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton should be aware of, Clyburn mentioned
persistent poverty communities. CBC’s objective involves expanding the
10-20-30 funding formula — first introduced in the 2009 Recovery Act — to include more of these communities. Speaker Paul Ryan met with the CBC Wednesday to discuss moving this issue forward.
10 = % of funding • 20 = % of people • 30 = years in poverty
...at least 10 percent shall be allocated for assistance in persistent poverty counties…
any county that has had 20 percent or more of its population living in poverty over the past 30 years
Using the 10-20-30 formula the Recovery Act funded a total of 4,655 projects in persistent poverty counties, totaling nearly $1.7 billion… I want to make one thing clear about the 10-20-30 approach. It does not add one dime to the deficit. It simply targets resources from funds already authorized or appropriated.
Rep. Clyburn serves South Carolina's 6th District: “which is bisected by the I-95 corridor. This corridor is the heart of what has been dubbed in South Carolina as the ‘Corridor of Shame,’ a 200-mile stretch of interstate highway that is flanked on either side by persistent poverty counties.” [
Developing the Will and the Way to Address Persistent Poverty in America, Representative James E. Clyburn, Harvard Journal on Legislation].
The Situation Room, Aired February 10, 2016
[17:43:29] BLITZER: Let's talk about the Democratic presidential contest. Joining us now is the House assistant Democratic leader, the South Carolina congressman, James Clyburn.
Congressman, thanks very much for joining us. I know you've said you're feeling a lot of pressure, including from your wife, one of your daughters to endorse either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, so give us the answer. Who are you going to throw your support behind?
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, thank you so much for having me, Wolf.
Well, when I get home on Friday evening, I'm going to be spending a lot of time with family, friends. I'll be on the phone talking to a lot of people.
I think that they're probably right: People would like to know where I stand, irrespective of where that is. And although I said at the outset that I would stay neutral in all of this, I'm beginning to feel that maybe they're right, that I need to let people know where I stand and I'll probably do that, though not today or this week.
BLITZER: Well, we would be happy if you did it right now. You got a chance to speak to people in South Carolina, people all over the country right now. Do you want to give us a little clue?
CLYBURN: No, let's just wait until I talk to them. They may change their minds. So we'll see.
BLITZER: Your family. Unlike Iowa and New Hampshire, the Democratic voters in South Carolina, about half if not more, are African-Americans. What are the key issues you're looking for from Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton to try to convince you?
CLYBURN: Well, I'm very concerned about an effort to really target resources into communities of need.
[17:45:03] I think that this whole trickledown effect that we seem to do so often is leaving too many people in dire straits. For instance, we see the numbers increasing now almost 500 counties in the United States of America are now classified as persistent poverty counties.
And I'm very pleased that the speaker of the House, Mr. Ryan, has now decided that he's going to take a hard look at what the Congressional Black Caucuses has been advocating for several years on directing resources into these communities. I spoke with Harold Rogers today and it looks like we're going to get some movement on that. [Ryan, black lawmakers, may join forces on poverty plan]
I want to see the candidates talk about that. How do we do the infrastructure issues? How do we support historic black colleges and universities? I have seven in my district. There are 103 in the country. And for people not to understand the value of these institutions to our overall society I believe is up to presidential candidates to get people to understand that.
BLITZER: All right.
CLYBURN: And so that's the kind of thing I am looking for and I hope we'll get it during this two-week period.
BLITZER: I know there's a little history between you and the Clintons going back eight years ago, I remember it well. You endorsed then Senator Barack Obama. He won South Carolina, as you know. The former president Bill Clinton, there's a famous phone call you discussed in your memoir. You told him, I think your words are, "Go ahead and chill a little bit." Have you gotten over that? What's your relationship with the Clintons like today? [Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black]
CLYBURN: Well, we have a great relationship. I spent a lot of time, I was on the phone with Mrs. Clinton last week. I've seen the president, the former president several times. Mrs. Clinton and I set with each other at Senator Clementa Pinckney's funeral and we have had several conversations.
You know, I had my fish fry out in Charleston a couple of weeks ago and I spoke with her at that time as well as Senator Sanders. So the relationship between me and the Clintons are like any other relationship. Sometimes things get testy. But I've been married 54 years so I know what it is to have relationships that things get testy in sometimes.
BLITZER: Yes. Sometimes they go up and sometimes they go down. You're welcome to come back in a few days when you make up your mind and let the country know, let the folks in South Carolina know what you're doing. We always enjoy having you on the show, Congressman. Thanks very much.
CLYBURN: Well, thank you so much for having me.
BLITZER: Thank you.
In the United States, there are 474 counties where 20 percent or more of the population has been living below the poverty line for the last 30 years. The counties are as diverse as our great nation; Appalachian communities in Kentucky and North Carolina, Native American communities in South Dakota and Alaska, Latino communities in Arizona and New Mexico and African American communities in Mississippi and South Carolina. They lack access to quality schools, affordable quality health care and adequate job opportunities.
This is not a partisan issue. In 2009, these counties were represented in Congress by 43 Democrats and 84 Republicans. Democrats represented 149 of them, with a total population of 8.8 million; Republicans 311, with a total population of 8.3 million; and 14, with a total population of 5.3 million, were split between Republicans and Democrats.
When we drafted the Recovery Act, I fought to ensure that no communities were left behind by including a provision that directed at least 10 percent of Rural Development investments to communities where 20 percent or more of the population had lived below the poverty line for the last 30 years (10-20-30).
I am urging Congress to include the 10-20-30 approach in future funding proposals, and expand it to all federal agencies. It doesn’t require additional funding -- only the stipulation that at least ten percent of any agency’s appropriated programmatic funds be invested in 10-20-30 communities. We are only as strong as our weakest link, and these communities must be included in our efforts to get the entire nation back on track.
I hope you will join me in this effort.
Sincerely,
James E. Clyburn Assistant Democratic Leader
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