Lynn C. Woolsey: “I rise in support of S. 2231 because to do anything else would be irresponsible. We must continue assistance to those…”

“I rise in support of S. 2231 because to do anything else would be irresponsible. We must continue assistance to those who need help getting back on their feet, and we must continue that assistance through the TANF program. But, Madam Speaker, we can do much better. I speak from whence I came. I know about welfare. I lived it. Over 30 years ago as a young mother with three children, they were aged 1, 3, and 5 years old, my husband left us. I immediately went to work full time; but to keep it all together, I went on welfare, aid for dependent children, while I continued my full-time work so that my children could have the health care and the child care that they needed. Because I was educated, because I had good job skills and good job experience, because I was healthy and my children were healthy, lucky me, and the Members know I was assertive, eventually, I worked my way out of poverty. But it would have been almost impossible without the help of the Federal Government; and, believe me, I think that others should have the same opportunities that I did. I know that we need to make education and training count as work activity for welfare recipients so mothers will have access to educational opportunities and job training to give them the skills they need so that they can get jobs that pay a livable wage, so that they can actually take care of their families.”