House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi speaks at a rally to support new anti-poverty legislation in South Central Los Angeles, California on April 9, 2017. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined a group of about 200 people at a rally in Los Angeles on Sunday, calling for continued federal funding to help combat poverty in the U.S.
Organizers of the #EndChildPoverty rally, which was held outside of a community center in South Los Angeles, said California has the highest rate of child poverty nationwide. They said they believe that federal funding to help combat the issue is under attack.
Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat from California, called it a "moral outrage that in the richest nation on earth, so many of our children are still living in poverty."
"It is wrong, and it is un-American," she said. "Shame on us."
Pelosi urged President Donald Trump not to slash funding that would help impoverished children and families. Pelosi was also joined by Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat, Rep. Karen Bass, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Los Angeles, and several other local elected officials. She pointed to Trump's comments about last week's chemical weapons attack that killed men, women and children in Syria.
"If you care about the children in Syria, and we all do, let that concern for all of the children in Syria be a message to us to care for all of the children in the world," Pelosi said. "If you have a budget that cuts meeting the needs of children in poverty in America, that is not a statement of our values."
In addition to decrying any cuts to federal funding, attendees also called attention to legislation in California that would provide cash assistance and benefits to low-income families.
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