Bill Clinton: “No, because, first of all--let me answer the second question first. It doesn't shake my confidence in the law, because…”

“No, because, first of all--let me answer the second question first. It doesn't shake my confidence in the law, because we have succeeded, I think, beyond anybody's expectations, partly from the growing economy and partly from welfare reform efforts, in reducing the welfare rolls more than they have ever been reduced in a comparable time period, ever. We've had 20 years of immigration in our country at high levels, many of the immigrants coming here come without many resources, and they want to work their way into the American dream. So we've had a lot of people coming in here, and yet we've been successful in having the smallest percentage of our people on welfare since 1970. So my answer to you is, I want to keep high standards, and I want them enforced, because we block-granted the money to the States they asked for. After all, they supported the law. They said we could keep the Federal guarantee for health care and food stamps, nutrition, which I insisted on, but they pointed out that they already had the freedom to set different welfare reimbursement levels every month, so they wanted control of that pot of money so they would have more flexibility to move people from welfare to work. And in return, they agreed to these targets. So I think we just need to keep pushing ahead. In terms of what should be done, obviously I want to consult with our people at HHS and others to do what is best. But I think most States really are working hard and in good faith to try to do this. I think that they know that's what the voters want and, most importantly, that's what the people on welfare want. So we don't want to just forget about our high standards, especially when we've proven we can hire a lot more people than we ever thought we could. Campaign Finance Reform”