Mike Levin: “the legal immigrant provisions never should have been in the welfare bill. When the President signed it, he said he was…”

“the legal immigrant provisions never should have been in the welfare bill. When the President signed it, he said he was going to work to take out these provisions, as did a number of us who voted for this bill. This is the first step to redeem that promise. Welfare reform was always about moving younger people off of welfare to work, not penalizing elderly legal immigrants. We have to go further than this. This is the first step, and I congratulate all who joined in this overcoming the initial resistance to this effort. Mr. Chairman, this has been a long haul. When the President announced his decision to sign a welfare bill, substantially reshaped after his two earlier vetoes, he promised to work to change several parts he disliked, particularly those relating to legal immigrants. When a number of us spoke on the Floor who voted for the bill, we made the same promise. Today, we take the first step to redeem that promise. Welfare reform was about moving mostly younger parents with children off welfare into work, safeguarding the health and care of their children--not about penalizing elderly, often disabled legal immigrants. To right this wrong, we have had to overcome considerable resistance.”