John Ensign: “Not only is that true, I think that one of the reasons maybe people do not believe us up here is because we do not give…”

“Not only is that true, I think that one of the reasons maybe people do not believe us up here is because we do not give credit when credit is due. I think we need to give President Clinton the credit for raising the minimum wage. He brought this Congress fighting, dragging and screaming and everything to raise the minimum wage. Now, we had to do that, but the only way we would do that is by giving small businesses tax relief along with that, so we improved the bill. But we should give him credit for raising the minimum wage. The President does not deserve credit for welfare reform. He is taking credit for it but he does not deserve credit for welfare reform, because, frankly, it was this Congress that did welfare reform. We recognized that welfare was destroying families. Illegitimacy rates are incredibly increased and a big factor in that is welfare. We tell a teenage mother, we say, if you get pregnant we will get you an apartment. You can move away from your parents, get you an apartment. You can have any man live with you except for the father of the child. Do not get a job. You cannot save anything. And, by the way, if you want more money, have more children out of wedlock. If that is not a morally bankrupt system, I do not know what is.”