Political Quotes

“I rise today to introduce a piece of legislation whose subject should be central to our debate over welfare reform. This bill, the Child Support Assurance Act of 1994, seeks to put a stop to one of the principal causes of child poverty in this country, lack of financial support from absent parents. I am delighted to be joined in this effort by my colleague from West Virginia, Senator Rockefeller, who has long been a champion of children's causes and this concept in particular. If I had to sum this legislation in one word, it would be responsibility: Parents' responsibility to support their kids and our responsibility as a nation to support struggling families. If we can begin to live up to these responsibilities, we will go a long way toward solving the problems that lead people to turn to welfare. welfare reform, welfare prevention I firmly believe we will not succeed in reforming welfare until we succeed in reforming child support. In my view, the term welfare reform does not do justice to the task at hand. Of course, we need welfare reform that will encourage people to become self-sufficient and leave government assistance. But just as important, we need welfare prevention--policies to allow people to avoid welfare in the first place. We need to seriously ask ourselves, what can we as a nation do to support families in danger of sliding into poverty?”