[Barbara Jordan Scrapbook, July - October, 1970] Page: 73 of 104

                                
Direct Money Aid
Backed For Poor

A method must be devised to
create an income-maintenance
program to transfer money di-
rectly to the poor, Texas State
Senator Barbara Jordan said
here last night.
She spoke to delegates to the
annual conference of the Mis-
souri Association  for Social
Welfare at the Sheraton-Jeffer-
son Hotel.
"If we are going to talk about
eradicating  poverty  in , the
United States, we must talk
about giving money to people,'
Senator Jordan, a Democrat,
said.
She is the first black to serve
in the Texas Senate since 1887.
"Public  assistance  benefits
under the present system are
insufficient," she said. "The

ST. LOUIS1
OCTOBER 9,

system also is far too limited
in its coverage. We're covering
only about 40 per cent of the
poor people under the present
program."
The senator said that the
gross national product of the
United States was approaching
a trillion dollars. "Yet there
are 25,000,000 persons, or 13
per cent of the population, who
are still poor," she said.
She said that if America was
serious about eliminating pov-
erty, the Federal Government
should work toward some form
of income maintenance.
"It isn't necessary that pov-
erty continue with us in its
present dimension," she said.
"The poor may be with us a'-
ways, but they are not going to

POST -DISPATCH
1970

SENATOR IS A LADY: Miss Barbara Jordan, a Texas
State Senator, addressing a meeting of the Missouri Asso-
ciation For Social Welfare yesterday. (Post-Dispatch Photo)

allow us to be very comfort-
able in their presence."
At an afternoon seminar enti-
tled "Dimensions of Hunger -
1970," representatives of local
welfare reform groups tempo-
r a r i, 1 y disrupted the proceed-
ings, demanding "equal time"
with the scheduled panelists.
Mrs. Warren E. H e a r n e s,
c h a i r m a n of the Governor's
Task Force on Hunger, was to
have p r e s i d e d at the panel.
Poor flying weather was report-
ed  to  have caused     Mrs.
Hearnes to cancel.
Arnold E. Schaefer, director
of the National Nutrition Sur-
vey, Department of Health, Ed-
ucation and Welfare, Rockville,
Maryland, was the main speak-
er.
Blasts on Whistle
William Stix, a St. Louis law-
yer and the conference chair-
man, halted shouting matches
with ear-splitting blasts on a
whistle. Schaefer then present-
ed d a t a on the sociological
breakdown   o f  malnourished
persons in five states.
When protesters c a I 1 e d the
data irrelevant, the HEW re-
searcher said the information
was necess ary to convince
members of Congress of the
need for increased funds for
food programs.
The protesters, about 15 per-
sons, included members of the
League for Adequate Welfare,
the St. Louis chapter of the Na-
tional Welfare Rights Organiza-
tion and R a d i c a l Action for
People.
Several welfare mothers and
social workers decried the re-
cent cuts in Missouri's medi-
caid program and the alleged
inadequacy of the St. Louis of-
fice of the Missouri Welfare Di-
vision in dealing with hunger
here.
"We're trying to tell you why
it's so frustrating to work for
an agency that can only give
empty promises. You work with
hungry, poor kids, but you can
only take out a few shoes and
rags. I hate myself as a social
worker when I'm forced to do
that," one child welfare case
worker said.
Censure of Hearnes
Under prodding of the pro-
t e s t e r s, the seminar partici-
pantsrvoted to urge the general
conference to c e n s u r e Gov.
Hearnes for his recent testimo-
ny at congressional hearings.
The Governor spoke against the
Nixon Administration family as-
s i s t a n c e plan, a limited in-
come-maintance program.
It was urged also that the
$9500 United Fund contribution
to the Missouri Association for
Social Welfare be given to the
welfare rights organizations.
M o r e than 30 seminars on
trends affecting Missouri wel-
fare programs are being con-
ducted by the 1000 delegates to
the conference, which ends to-
day.