Cliff Stearns: “hearing the Democrats say they reformed welfare is similar to saying all of us in this House won gold in the Olympics.…”

“hearing the Democrats say they reformed welfare is similar to saying all of us in this House won gold in the Olympics. Did we participate in the success at Sydney? No. But did this Nation benefit from the years of practice and experience of these gold medals? Yes. When we were talking about reforming welfare, the Democrats said welfare reform would fail, and President Clinton vetoed this legislation twice. Well, failure could not be further from the truth today. Taxpayers are better off than they were 4 years ago due to fiscal responsibility and reforms passed by the Republican Congress. Six years ago welfare checks in the Northeast totaled about $47 million, and this year the costs are about $12 million, nearly $35 million in savings. Republicans have helped restore incentive to work instead of dooming families to a life of continued dependencies. Our policy should be a hand up, not a hand out.”