US envoy irked by UN report on poverty in America, calls it ‘misleading’

UNITED NATIONS, June 21 (APP):Stung by a United Nations report criticizing the U.S. government on poverty in America, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley called it “misleading and politically motivated.”
“It is patently ridiculous for the United Nations to examine poverty in America,” Haley wrote in letters to Senators Bernie Sanders, an independent, and Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat.
“There is no question that poverty in America remains a serious concern, but it does no one any good to inaccurately describe its prevalence or its causes.”
Sanders and Warren were among 20 congressional Democrats who wrote Ambassador Haley
last week criticizing the Trump administration for the findings.
In December, Philip Alston, the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, issued the report following visits to California, Alabama, Georgia, Puerto Rico, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. Citing the Republican tax overhaul, Alston said his visit coincided “with a dramatic change of direction in US policies relating to inequality and extreme poverty.”
The UN rapporteur said the United States, one of the world’s richest nations and the “land of opportunity”, is fast becoming the World’s most unequal society.
“The American Dream is rapidly becoming the American Illusion, as the US now has the lowest rate of social mobility of any of the rich countries,” he said at the end of a fact-finding mission to the United States.
Alston’s report cites high infant mortality, income inequality, incarceration and obesity rates.
“It is our sincerest hope that you will relay the findings of this UN report to President Trump and that this Administration will take action to reduce poverty and uphold our international human rights treaty obligations,” the congressional Democrats wrote.
In their letter to Haley, they also asked the administration to recognize health care as a human right, address inadequate access to banking services and improve internet and transportation access, especially in rural communities.
On her part, Ambassador Haley stressed that the current administration is tackling the issue by focusing on jobs.
“Poverty is an issue the Trump Administration takes very seriously,” Haley responded. However, she said, “While there are many dimensions to poverty, the Administration’s overarching view is that the best way to help people get out of poverty is to help them get a job. There is dignity in work, and being able to provide for one’s self and family is empowering, both economically and spiritually.”
Haley also claimed Alston’s reports are not endorsed by the U.N. as a whole.