Congressman Al Green: “In the richest country in the world, we should not have people working full-time and living below the poverty-line.”

(Washington, DC)--On Tuesday, April 14, 2015, Congressman Al Green joined fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus and members of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) at a press conference to discuss a new JEC report detailing major economic challenges in the African American community.  The report found that according to many major economic indicators there are significant discrepancies between black and white Americans.

“In the richest country in the world, we should not have people working full-time and living below the poverty-line,” Congressman Al Green said. “We have a bill, H.R. 122, the Original Living American Wage (LAW) Act, which raises the minimum wage and indexes it to poverty such that anyone that works full-time can live above the poverty-line. It is time for us to give every person an equal opportunity to succeed on their merits or fail on their demerits in the richest country in the world.”