Press Releases

Today, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Steven Horsford will join Vice President Kamala Harris in Atlanta, Georgia for the kickoff event of the White House’s nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour. The kickoff event will include a panel discussion moderated by Chairman Horsford with Biden-Harris Administration officials regarding actions federal agencies are taking for minority-owned businesses, as well as efforts by the Biden-Harris Administration and Congressional Democrats to build wealth in Black communities.

The collaboration underscores the unified commitment of the Biden-Harris Administration and the Congressional Black Caucus to elevate economic opportunities for Black America. It comes weeks after the CBC introduced its plan to build generational Black wealth in America cosponsored by all 60 CBC members. The plan, which outlines the core tenets of the CBC’s Black Wealth and Prosperity Agenda that will be rolled out over the next several months, is the Caucus’ day one agenda for the start of the 119th Congress with a Democratic House majority under Hakeem Jeffries.

Today, the typical per capita wealth of white Americans is $284,310, compared to $44,100 for Black Americans. The Black Wealth and Prosperity Agenda is focused on closing this gap by removing barriers that have prevented progress to foster generational wealth within Black communities. The core tenets of the agenda are housing, entrepreneurship, employment, tax fairness and equity, and protecting voting rights. Through the creation of legislation within these tenets and supporting already existing legislation that touches on these goals, this agenda will have a profound impact on creating opportunities, building long-term generational wealth in Black communities, and closing the Black-white wealth gap.

“Over the past several years, the Biden-Harris Administration and Congressional Democrats have taken historic steps to advance economic opportunity from increasing access to capital for small businesses to achieving the fastest creation of Black-owned small businesses in more than 30 years. The CBC applauds Vice President Harris for her leadership in starting a direct conversation with the American people about how our historic legislation is already making a difference in our communities,” said CBC Chairman Steven Horsford. “As the CBC continues to put forward our day one Black economic agenda for the next Congress, we look forward to collaborating more with the Biden-Harris Administration on our shared goals of building Black wealth and closing the Black-white wealth gap.”

Panelists include:

• Janis Bowdler, Counselor to the Secretary for Racial Equity, U.S. Department of Treasury
• Christopher Coes, Acting Under Secretary for Transportation and Policy, U. S. Department of Transportation
• Eric Morissette, Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development, Minority Business Development Agency
• Dilawar Syed, Deputy Administrator, Small Business Administration