There are nearly 44 million Americans, living below the poverty line, and that is the largest number on record. Since the year 2000, nearly 12 million more Americans have slipped into poverty. Generally, from a political point of view, it's not terribly wise to be talking about poverty. Poor people don't vote in many cases. Poor people certainly do not make campaign contributions. According to the latest figures from the OECD-the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-the United States has both the highest overall poverty rate and the highest childhood poverty rate of any major industrialized country on Earth. This also comes at a time when the United States has, by far, the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on Earth. One enormously important point about poverty in America is that it leads not just to anxiety, unhappiness, or discomfort, or a lack of material goods, but also to death. Poverty in America is, in fact, a death sentence. And tens and tens of thousands of our people are experiencing that reality.