David Weldon: “I rise in support of H.R. 3734, the Republican welfare reform bill. In my opinion, our reform bill is a very good start.…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 3734, the Republican welfare reform bill. In my opinion, our reform bill is a very good start. I think further reforms will probably be needed in the future to ultimately get the Federal Government out of the business of trying to help the poor, because the Federal Government is completely incompetent and incapable of helping the poor. Indeed, I feel that the current system is almost criminal, and the victims are children. That point was very vividly driven home to me when I had the opportunity a few years ago to meet a businessman in my district who had recently relocated from Oklahoma. I remember him describing to me how he had taken part in a program in Oklahoma where he went into the inner city in Oklahoma and took part in a program where they would read books to these young children ages 5, 6, and 7, you can help improve their reading scores. He told me a story that totally amazed me. When he first started taking part in the program he would frequently ask these kids what they wanted to be and what they wanted to do when they grew up. A fairly high percentage of them said they wanted to be on welfare and they wanted to collect a check.”