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Remarks Delivered Introducing Bill for Industrial Investment in Urban Poverty Areas, US Senate

July 12, 1967

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Washington, D.C.

The greatest failure in our existing anti-poverty efforts is the failure to involve and rely on the private enterprise system which is the basic strength of the nation. We have created for the poor a separate economy, almost a separate nation: a second-rate system of welfare handouts, a screen of government agency is keeping the poor apart from the rest of us. That system—ineffective, inefficient, and degrading—must be changed.

New year, new us. Same mission.

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights is rebranding to honor the legacy of our founder and hero, Mrs. Ethel Skakel Kennedy. From now on, we will proudly be known as the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center

While our name is changing, our mission and work remain the same. We will continue to fight injustice, advance human rights, and hold governments accountable around the world in 2026 and beyond.