Bill Clinton: “Good morning. Four years ago, I challenged America to end welfare as we know it, to require work, promote responsible…”

“Good morning. Four years ago, I challenged America to end welfare as we know it, to require work, promote responsible parenting, shift the system from dependence to independence. Just a few days after I took office, I met with the Nation's 50 Governors, and I urged every one of them to send me a welfare reform plan that would help to meet that challenge. In return, I pledged to waive outmoded or counterproductive Federal rules that get in the way of reform. Most of the Governors took me up on that deal. So in the last 3 years, my administration has granted 38 States welfare reform waivers, clearing away Federal rules and regulations to permit States to build effective welfare reforms of their own. The State-based reform we've encouraged has brought work and responsibility back to the lives of 75 percent of the Americans on welfare. We're doing a lot more than signing waivers. We've also pressed ahead on fundamental reforms to make the welfare system reflect the basic values that have stood up so well for so long, that if you bring a child into this world, you must take responsibility for that child; that Government will not subsidize irresponsible or reckless behavior; that welfare is a second chance, not a way of life. That's why I signed a Presidential order to require Federal employees to pay child support and increased Federal efforts to enforce child support orders across State lines. I toughened sanctions on welfare and food stamp recipients who refuse to work.…”