Christopher Shays: “Madam Chairman, this new Republican majority has three primary objectives: One is to balance our Federal budget and to…”

“Madam Chairman, this new Republican majority has three primary objectives: One is to balance our Federal budget and to get our financial house in order; the second is to save our trust funds for future generations; and the third, and that is the one most involved with this effort today, we are trying to transform our caretaking social and corporate and welfare state into a caring opportunity society. There is nothing caring about our present welfare system. When I see my own communities, I see young children having babies, I see young children selling drugs, I see young children killing each other. In my communities there is nothing humane or caring about the system that we have. I see 24-year-olds who have never had a job, not because a job does not exist, because maybe it is a dead-end job, in their view. If I had ever said that to my dad, my dad would have doubled the amount of time I took that job. And 30-year-old grandparents. We basically have three generations of people on welfare. We have helped subsidize and create the very system we are trying to eliminate. Madam Chairman, I believe that child care and job training should be designed by the States, not the Federal Government.”