John Mica: “Mr. Speaker, I would not support legislation that would hurt our Nation's children. But I would submit, Mr. Speaker…”

“Mr. Speaker, I would not support legislation that would hurt our Nation's children. But I would submit, Mr. Speaker, that our current welfare system is in fact destroying the lives of millions and millions of children. Welfare which in fact was designed to create a safety net has in fact trapped millions of children in a pitiful web and their families in a pitiful web. Let us just look at it for a second. Our current system of welfare has destroyed in fact the traditional family structure, so that children do not even know the meaning of a home and a family. Our current system of welfare has in fact destroyed our children's sense of values. Our current system of welfare has kept our children from understanding the work ethic, the work ethic that in fact has built this Nation. In fact, our current welfare system has kept our children from seeing a parent work. Our current system of welfare makes a joke of a $5.15 minimum wage that this Congress passed, when we in fact pay people in my State in Florida the equivalent of $8.75 an hour for not working.”