Political Quotes

“let me try to be succinct as to how this amendment would change the Dole bill. Essentially what the Dole bill does, as drafted, is present a growth fund for the next 5 years of $877 million. It then submits a formula under which that growth fund is disbursed. The formula would provide funds only to 19 States. You cannot convince me that only 19 States are going to grow in terms of poor families in this Nation. So what I have tried to do is come up with a fair formula that measures the growth of poor families. The House bill has a formula in it which measures the growth of people and then applies that to this bill. Ours is very similar to the House, with one distinction, and the distinction is that it would use the census data to count the increase in poor families to determine how the growth money is spent. The House uses the census data to count the increase in the general population. Then, the way in which the growth money is spent is simply: The percentage of growth is divided into the overall total growth. In that way, every State is accommodated, and the growth funds are distributed to each state proportionate to its share of the total growth. Specifically, it would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to publish every 2 years data relating to the incidence of poverty. The methodology employed mirrors title 13 of the United States Code, section 141(a) of the census statute, and as I have said, is the same as the House welfare reform bill.”