East Bay Congresswoman Barbara Lee sent a letter from the Congressional Black Caucus to President Obama. In it, she ask the government to earmark 10 percent of its job training budget for low-income communities.
Other proposals include increasing funding for green jobs and spending un-used bailout money on job creation programs.
"I believe strongly and the Congressional Black Caucus believes strongly that it's our moral obligation to tackle poverty and unemployment and in the richest country in the world we have no excuse not to," said Rep. Lee.
Lee points out that the unemployment rate for African American teenagers is almost 50 percent and almost a quarter of black families live below the poverty line.
