Contact: Martha Waggoner | [email protected]

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival sent a letter Sunday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, thanking and encouraging her to “hold the line” on insisting that votes on infrastructure and the budget be held at the same time.

“The vote you have called for invites representatives of conscience to take a stand and use their power to insist that so-called ‘moderates’ in the Senate do more to support the president’s ‘Build Back Better’ agenda and, more importantly, to invest in the poor and low-income people who are too often ignored in our public life,” the letter reads.

The letter is signed by the campaign’s co-chairs, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theohairs.

The House could vote Monday on the Senate’s infrastructure bill.

In August, the campaign met with Speaker Pelosi and staff to highlight the immediate need for investment in physical infrastructure, social infrastructure and the infrastructure of our democracy.

The letter to Speaker Pelosi follows one sent last week to President Biden, seeking a meeting at the White House with a racially and geographically diverse group of poor and low-income people, moral leaders and economists “to put a face on the urgent needs of this moment.”

The full text of the letter to Speaker Pelosi is below:

September 26, 2021
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Madam Speaker, 

We are writing on behalf of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, about the vote on the Senate’s infrastructure bill this coming Monday. When we met with you recently, you listened to testimony from Black, white, and Latino Americans who know that it is not enough for Congress to only invest in the physical infrastructure of our roads, bridges, pipes and rails. On behalf of poor and low-income people across this nation, they implored you to “Hold the Line” and make clear to the Senate that the House cannot fund the physical infrastructure bill until the Senate commits to also funding the infrastructure of our daily lives by investing in healthcare, family leave, elder care, affordable housing, the environment and more.

The vote you have called for invites representatives of conscience to take a stand and use their power to insist that so-called “moderates” in the Senate do more to support the President’s “Build Back Better” agenda and, more importantly, to invest in the poor and low-income people who are too often ignored in our public life. This is what the delegation you met with asked for, and we thank you for keeping your word. Both of these bills are necessary and essential steps to lift from the bottom up and middle out. 

As we continue to lift the voices of America’s 140 million poor and low-income people, we know we need a Third Reconstruction to address the moral and constitutional crises we face in this country. As the wealthy and corporations invest millions to campaign against the investments the President has asked for, we have asked the White House to host a delegation similar to the one you met with to put a face on the real and urgent needs that demand action. We pray your leadership and courage will move this administration to take up this request, listen to poor and low-income people and show the nation why this legislation and so much more is needed.

Gratefully,

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II
President, Repairers of the Breach
National Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
Director, Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice
National Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival