{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://clyburn.house.gov/press-release/clyburn-testimony-house-budget-committee-10-20-30-plan", "Clyburn Testimony Before House Budget Committee On 10-20-30 Plan", "2014-06-16", "2014", "2014-06", "Democrat", "House", "SC", "James Clyburn", "C000537", "clyburn.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Today, Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn testified on the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) 10-20-30 anti-poverty plan at the House Committee on the Budget hearing titled \u201cA Progress Report on the War on Poverty: Reforming Federal Aid.\u201d \u00a0Full video of Mr. Clyburn\u2019s testimony (click image to view) and text of remarks as prepared for delivery are below:\n\u201cMr. Chairman, Ranking Member Van Hollen, members of the committee\u2014good morning.\u00a0 Thank you for having me here today to discuss the important issue of persistent poverty in America and how we can combat it through the 10-20-30 initiative.\nIt is no secret that there are major disagreements among the members of this committee and our respective parties over the role that the federal government should play in fighting poverty and confronting many other national challenges.\u00a0 These disagreements, put simply, come down to a question of federal resources: I believe that we should target more resources to impoverished communities than your proposed budgets allocate, and I believe we can do so efficiently and effectively.\u00a0\nI was privileged to have the opportunity to work through some of these disagreements with some of you last year as a member of the Budget Conference Committee, and the deal that resulted, while not 100% of what either side wanted, was a reasonable compromise on federal spending through the end of the next fiscal year that I was proud to support.\nNow that we have determined how much the federal government will spend, we must determine how to spend it most effectively.\u00a0 It is on this latter question\u2014how to allocate finite federal resources to get the most \u201cbang for the buck\u201d\u2014that I believe we may be able to find more common ground to make real strides in combating persistent poverty in America.\nMr. Chairman, there are currently 488 persistent poverty counties in America\u2014so defined because 20 percent of the population has lived below the poverty line for the past 30 years or more.\u00a0 They are diverse, including Appalachian communities in states like Kentucky and West Virginia, Native American communities in states like Alaska and South Dakota, Latino communities in states like Arizona and Texas, African American communities in states like South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama.\u00a0 They are urban communities in the Northeast, and rural in America\u2019s heartland.\u00a0 139 of these counties are represented in this august body by Democrats, 331 by Republicans, and 18 are split between the two parties.\u00a0 Combating persistent poverty should matter to all of us, regardless of party, geography, or race.\nIn early 2009, when we were putting together the Recovery Act, I proposed language to require at least 10 percent of funds in the rural development account to be directed to projects in these persistent poverty counties.\u00a0 This requirement was enacted into law.\u00a0 In light of the definition of persistent poverty counties as having at least 20-percent poverty rates over 30 years, this provision became known as the 10-20-30 initiative.\nThis provision bore dividends, as economic development projects proliferated in persistent poverty counties across the country.\u00a0 The Recovery Act funded a total of 4,655 projects in persistent poverty counties, totaling nearly $1.7 billion.\u00a0 I saw firsthand the positive effects of these projects in my Congressional District.\u00a0 Projects were undertaken and jobs created that would have otherwise gone lacking.\u00a0 Among these investments was a $5.8 million grant and $2 million loan to construct 51 miles of water lines in the Britton\u2019s Neck community in Marion County, which I represented at the time and my colleague Mr. Rice, who sits on this committee, represents today.\u00a0 In Lowndes County, Mississippi, $17.5 million was spent to install a water line, elevated tank, and two wastewater pump stations, providing potable water to Mississippians and creating badly needed construction jobs.\u00a0 The Wellborn Special Utility District in Brazos County, Texas, received a $538,000 loan to construct more than 9 miles of new water distribution lines and connect over 60 households to a new water source.\u00a0\nI come before the Budget Committee today to ask that, as you decide how best to allocate federal resources, you expand 10-20-30 to other federal agencies.\u00a0 In 2011, I joined with our former Republican colleague, then-Representative Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri, to introduce an amendment to the Continuing Resolution that would have continued 10-20-30 for rural development and expanded it to 11 additional accounts throughout the federal government affecting economic development, education, job training, health, justice, the environment, and more.\u00a0 I hope to work with members of this committee to include similar language in future budget resolutions and other legislation.\nI want to make one thing clear about the 10-20-30 approach.\u00a0 It does not\u2014I repeat, does not\u2014add one dime to the deficit.\u00a0 It simply allocates resources from funds already authorized or appropriated.\nOver the past 30 years, the national economy has risen and fallen multiple times.\u00a0 During each economic downturn, while we have been rightly focused on getting economy as a whole back on track, we have not given adequate attention to these communities that are suffering from chronic distress and Depression-era levels of joblessness.\u00a0 As a result, they have suffered even in good economic times.\u00a0 The 10-20-30 approach would provide a mechanism to address this deprivation in times of want and in times of plenty, in times of federal investment and in times of fiscal austerity.\nI published an article on 10-20-30 in the most recent issue of the Harvard Journal on Legislation.\u00a0 I discuss the history of our nation\u2019s efforts to address chronic poverty and more fully lay out the case for broadly implementing 10-20-30 in a bipartisan fashion.\u00a0 I have included the full article in my written testimony so that it appears in the record, and I encourage the members of the committee to read it when you have the opportunity.\u00a0 I look forward to discussing this issue further with you and to working together to eliminate the scourge of persistent poverty in these distressed communities.\nThank you for having me today.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://clyburn.house.gov/press-release/clyburn-testimony-house-budget-committee-10-20-30-plan"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6770461332052946, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": 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