Patsy T. Mink: “I rise to advise this House that I have introduced a bill, H.R. 3113, which seeks to amend and reauthorize the Temporary…”

“I rise to advise this House that I have introduced a bill, H.R. 3113, which seeks to amend and reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF). H.R. 3113 currently has 49 sponsors. I hope that more Members will join in support of major changes to the TANF law that Congress enacted in 1996. The TANF block grants must be reauthorized next year. It is not too early to begin the review and discussion of necessary changes. TANF replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, which had distributed welfare benefits since the 1930s. Benefits under the AFDC program were provided as an entitlement and although benefit levels varied from state to state, the overall system was regulated by the federal government. TANF repealed the entitlement and made much of the eligibility and program structure subject to state law. TANF also imposed a cumulative lifetime time limit of 5 years on the receipt of benefits. TANF went into effect in 1996 and many of the families enrolled in the program are now reaching their 5-year limit. Five hundred families in Hawaii will be cut off in December of this year. In some states, thousands of families already have been cut off because the TANF law allows states to have even shorter time limits. The recession we now are suffering cost 415,000 jobs in October 2001 alone. Thousands more jobs lost in November spread economic vulnerability through wider segments of our population.”