Tom Tancredo: “In 1996 we had much of a similar debate on an issue of this nature. We debated the whole concept of welfare and…”

“In 1996 we had much of a similar debate on an issue of this nature. We debated the whole concept of welfare and determined that some change had to be undertaken. After several attempts by this body, by this Congress, to pass legislation, in fact, they did; the previous President had vetoed it a couple of times and eventually he got on board with it and decided that, in fact, it was a good thing. It has proven to be a very good thing. It has proven to be even more successful than many of the folks who had originally supported it could hope for. The numbers of people, as we all know, on welfare have gone down dramatically. Percentages in some States have gone down so dramatically that it boggles the imagination. Somewhere around 70 and 80 percent the caseload has been reduced subsequent to the 1996 act. A lot of people say it has everything to do with the economy being better. But historically we can look at it and find out that over the past century, as a matter of fact, and at least for the past 6 years when we have had a much more intensive welfare program in the United States operating, that the number of people on welfare continued to go up.”