Lynn C. Woolsey: “But what they are really doing is getting tough on children. You see, when I look at the welfare reform bill, it leaves…”

“But what they are really doing is getting tough on children. You see, when I look at the welfare reform bill, it leaves me asking, What about the children? Two out of three welfare recipients are children. Have they forgotten about the children? Apparently so. Because, Mr. Speaker, this bill demands that mothers go to work but fails to provide the education, the training, and the support that these mothers need to take care of their children so that they can get off welfare permanently. When a mother is kicked off the welfare rolls, there is no safety net for her children, no guarantee that her children will receive food and shelter, no guarantee that they will have any medical care, no guarantee that they can survive. In fact, this bill says to poor children, ``Don't get hungry, don't get sick and for heaven's sake, don't get cold, because your time is up and we don't think you're important enough to protect you.'' Mr. Speaker, no other Member of this body knows better than I do how wrong this is. This is the wrong way to fix the welfare system.”