Chris Dodd: “We all want to see people move from welfare to work, and assist in that process. Every survey that has been done over…”

“We all want to see people move from welfare to work, and assist in that process. Every survey that has been done over the last decade has indicated that one of the major obstacles of people moving from welfare to work is the absence of child care. Sixty percent of all AFDC recipients have children age 5 and under. If we are truly committed to moving people from welfare to work and we want to assist States in that process, we must provide adequate funds for child care. Because this bill mandates a 25-percent work requirement in 2 years, and 50 percent by the year 2000--we set that as a mandate in this bill--we should assist States in making that happen. All this amendment does is provide the assistance in a pool of money. It is not an entitlement. It does not guarantee anybody anything.”