WALLY HERGER: “This important legislation before us today, H.R. 4, the Personal Responsibility Work and Family Promotion Act of 2003…”

“This important legislation before us today, H.R. 4, the Personal Responsibility Work and Family Promotion Act of 2003, builds on the many successes of the historic 1996 welfare reform law. H.R. 4 will help even more people transition from welfare to work and know the dignity of collecting a paycheck instead of a welfare check. As my colleagues may recall, before 1996 the Nation's welfare program actually encouraged dependence with recipients staying on the rolls for an average of 13 years. The program discouraged work, and caseloads reached record levels with some 5 million families and 14 million recipients dependent on benefits by 1994. Since the 1996 changes, work has increased, incomes are higher, child poverty has been reduced, and families are more self-reliant. Welfare caseloads are down more than 50 percent and have continued to decline even over the past 2 years as unemployment rates have risen. Nearly 3 million children have been lifted from poverty, and poverty rates for African American children and families headed by single mothers have reached all-time lows. We must continue to build on this record of success. We can do that by passing H.R. 4.”