Karen Thurman: “I am glad we are having this discussion today because I think that we have all agreed that we do want welfare reform…”

“I am glad we are having this discussion today because I think that we have all agreed that we do want welfare reform, and there is a bigger picture here because we will take up and have taken up H.R. 4. But today we are talking about and the leadership is offering the Wisconsin welfare plan as its model for welfare reform. If this is the ideal, then why do we continue in this body to offer a welfare plan that cuts the money necessary to achieve the very goals contained in the Wisconsin plan? Wisconsin says it want to require work, provide job training, child care, and health care. This assistance is going to cost money. In fact, Wisconsin recognizes that in order to move people from welfare to work, it is going to have to spend more money than it currently does. How can they possibly achieve their goals under H.R. 4? The Congressional Budget Office report said that H.R. 4 did not include sufficient funds to meet the work requirements in their welfare bill. How can Wisconsin then meet the more ambitious and more costly work requirements that are included in their plan? What about child care? There certainly is not enough money in H.R. 4 to provide for the level of care Wisconsin is proposing. Wisconsin's promises then probably simply will be broken. So as we have this debate and as we play the politics today on this issue, let us remember that it is possible to achieve welfare reform that cares about children. This should be our goal.”