Wellstone Speaks Against Race, Poverty Linkage

In a speech before a crowded audience last night at the Kennedy School of Government, Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) said he wants to begin a national discussion on poverty, race and gender to awaken the national conscious.

Wellstone, who won a second term in last year's election, cited numerous statistics to make his case.

"More than 35 million Americans--one out of every seven--are officially poor," he said. "That includes one-fourth of all children and one of every two children of color."

Wellstone said a new national discussion was necessary because of the widening gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots."

"You've heard the line, 'The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.' Well, that's been true for the last 20 years," he said.

Wellstone emphasized that women and minorities make up a disproportionate share of the indigent population in America and criticized the welfare reform bill which passed last August under the Clinton Administration.

"The proponents of blaming people on welfare won last year," he said. "But that was just the first round."

With that, the liberal Senator vowed to travel coast-to-coast to champion the causes of the underclass, as Robert F. Kennedy '48 and Eleanor Roosevelt did before.

"We can no longer mask the grim realities of poverty," he said. "It's my job to reveal for our citizens the face of poverty as it exists at the dawn of a new millennium."

Wellstone, who was a political science professor before he initially ran for the Senate in 1990, offered few new ideas on how to solve the poverty problems in America.

Instead, with fiery rhetoric reminiscent of a campaign speech, he called for the full funding of existing programs such as Head Start and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.

Wellstone said he could understand why WIC was not fully funded under Republican presidents like Ronald Reagan and George Bush, but he expressed his dismay with the Clinton administration's poor budgeting for the program.

"We know WIC works," he said. "Funding it at only 60 percent is a scandal."

Before closing to take questions--none of which were critical of Wellstone's plans--the Senator said he plans to use his position to force a debate on poverty in America.

"I intend to bring the issue to the floor and force vote after vote, and I expect to win," he said.

Reaction among students in the audience was positive.

"The country needs a liberal conscious. In the absence of people like Robert Kennedy, Wellstone is filling that role," said Seth D. Hanlon '98, the former president of the College Democrats.

"He repeated many of the things he's said in the past, but in politics, visibility and staying on focus pays off," said Eric S. Olney '98, current president of the College Democrats

"He repeated many of the things he's said in the past, but in politics, visibility and staying on focus pays off," said Eric S. Olney '98, current president of the College Democrats