John B. Breaux: “When the Senate votes tomorrow, it is going to be faced with the question of how do we do welfare reform? Do we do…”

“When the Senate votes tomorrow, it is going to be faced with the question of how do we do welfare reform? Do we do welfare reform by being tough on parents who refuse to work? Or are we going to be tough on kids who do not have a choice in life? I think this country, as strong as we are, should be as tough as we possibly can on deadbeat parents or parents who do not want to work or refuse to work, whatever the reason. But we should not take it out on innocent children who did not ask to be born. This amendment simply says that, after a family has been taken off AFDC assistance, we should at least allow the States to use their block grant money they already get to pay for vouchers to give to third parties to provide for the needs of children whose parents have been kicked off AFDC assistance. This is a child, and most of the people on welfare are children. Over two-thirds are children, and those children are poor children.”