Mike Levin: “the present welfare system does not serve the Nation well. It does not serve families and children well. It does not…”

“the present welfare system does not serve the Nation well. It does not serve families and children well. It does not serve the American taxpayer well. This bill contains several provisions which I hope can be moderated in the conference between the House and the Senate and in discussion with the President. Meaningful reform should protect children and establish the principle that able-bodied people work. It should tighten child support enforcement laws and be more effective in getting absent fathers to support their children. The bill before us represents a constructive effort. It is an improvement over the bill the President vetoed last year because it provides more support for child care, requires a greater maintenance of effort from the States, and does not block grant food stamp assistance. And, the Senate has improved the bill which the Finance Committee reported by passing amendments which maintain current standards for Medicaid and which eliminate excessive limits on food stamp assistance. The funding levels in this bill are aimed at assuring that adequate child care resources will be available for children as single parents make the transition into work. Those levels are significantly improved. This strengthens the work requirement because it better assures that States can effectively move people into job training, private sector employment, and community service jobs.”