Steve Southerland: “I would like to thank and commend you, Mr. Chairman, on your great work. Madam Speaker, there's been a lot of things…”

“I would like to thank and commend you, Mr. Chairman, on your great work. Madam Speaker, there's been a lot of things talked about today and in the past about the motivation. I've been very involved in this bill. The ranking member, she and I have gotten to know each other, and it has been a pleasure. I mean that sincerely. I want you to know, Madam Speaker, that my motivation has only been to introduce the blessing of work to able-bodied people. Madam Speaker, from your chair, if you look down the center aisle, you can see one of 23 faces that are at the top of this room. The face you are looking at is the face of Moses. That is the only face that is a full frontal view and not a side view like the other 22 faces that surround this room. It was his work, the work of Moses, that in the very first chapter of Genesis, God created Adam and placed him in the garden to work it. Work is not a penalty; work is a blessing. God's very first work was to introduce the responsibility of an able-bodied individual to do not just a physical activity, not just an economic activity, but, in every sense of the word, a spiritual activity. What we have done in this country is wrong. We have failed in introducing the blessing of work to able-bodied people who have the ability, who are mentally, physically, psychologically able to work, and we have robbed them of knowing a better life that they helped create for themselves and their families. I want to be very clear. This bill excludes children.…”