On the recordJuly 23, 1996
most people probably think that welfare is temporary, that people are on it for a few months and then move on to a job. This is not the case. The average stay on welfare is 13 years. Mr. Speaker, that is plainly unacceptable. When we place people on welfare for year after year after year, you are not helping them you are hurting them. If a person is healthy and is able to work, they should work, period. It is reprehensible that our Government has devised a welfare system that pays people not to work. Republicans have made it very clear that we want serious, commonsense reform of the welfare system. We want to emphasize work, we want to restore power to the States, and we want to encourage personal responsibility. President Bill Clinton says he wants the very same things. I hope the President joins us in reforming welfare so that it does not become a way of life and people are not trapped on it for 13 years.
Source
govinfo.gov
