Patsy T. Mink

I rise to oppose H.R. 1158. Two- thirds of the $17.1 billion in rescissions contained in H.R. 1158 are taken from programs for children and the poor. While this fact demonstrates the majority party's indifference to programs that impact…

Unless they can prove economic damages, which children cannot do, they will get nothing, no matter how egregious the injury and suffering of the children, and I urge this amendment be adopted.

I think it is basically because they cannot stand up on their two feet and defend what they are doing to the women and children of this country, so they are using mischievous allegations that the Girl Scouts support this.

I am very proud to rise in support of the Furst amendment which I also submitted to the Committee on Rules for consideration. Under our system of justice, individuals who are injured have the absolute right to go to court to seek…

I rise in opposition to H.R. 728. It represents a departure from what has been argued from the other side of the aisle--give the people what they want. Last year's anticrime bill has provided nearly 8,000 communities, rural to urban and…

So I have full confidence in my State and local elected officials to know what is appropriate for our community. But I also believe that the Congress of the United States has an important responsibility in establishing the priorities…

Our reluctance in not supporting the block grant is not because we do not have confidence in local officials in their being able to perceive what the needs are of their constituents. Their constituents are our constituents.

The statistics are there. The census data has been evaluated. All the records of the department have been researched, and we find the outstanding conclusion that the majority of parents who come into welfare are there less than a year…

this amendment which has been offered expresses the fundamental belief that people in this country have about our courts and the judicial system. And that goes to the belief that somehow the system of justice will protect those who are…

Now the story is quite different. We have a majority party, Republicans, who are not only committed to the passage of the amendment but also are in control of the appropriations process and all of the committees, and they are not telling…

I thank the Speaker for giving us this opportunity this morning to call attention of not only this House but the people of America to the tremendous things that are occurring with reference to the shaping and formulating of policy in the…

Mr. Speaker, Roe versus Wade established for this country the right of women to have abortions. That right is a right that should be protected by the law. What we have seen over the past 10 years is thousands of women seeking to exercise…

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4250 which reauthorizes three very important programs to address the needs of the disadvantaged and low-income in our communities--the Low Income Housing Energy Assistance Program, the Community…

Current Federal law says if the mother has a child 3 years or younger they cannot even be part of the jobs programs. So we have always kept to this idea that the best nurturer of a young child is the mother. But of course if she wants to…

Mr. Speaker, the matter that I want to turn to now is a proposal that comes from our colleague, Jan Meyers of Kansas. She has proposed that one of the ways to deal with this problem of welfare reform is to require teenagers under the age…

I must admit that I was shocked in talking to some of the members of the task force. They argue that they must start with the youngest in order that welfare does not become as habit.

I think that the assistance should be standardized. There should be some way in which the government could decide what a family in each of these states requires to sustain themselves, a family of a size of three and that everybody ought to…

That's right. So the whole thing is a tragic kind of circle that we need to make the American people understand better.

They are, but a lot of them come back on again because they do not have the support right now, and that is what we need to bring a stop to.

The picture I am trying to create is a different kind of welfare recipient than what the so-called welfare as we know it kind of myth. These are people that are struggling to improve themselves. They are going to college, getting their GED…

Well, you can just look at the AFDC payments in many of these States. A State like Arizona, $293; Alabama, 124; Florida, 294 per month average family, one-parent family with three, two children.

Those that are in the AFDC for 24 months or less, have a high school diploma: 41 percent. That is that group that is out there looking for work, going out and maybe getting something. But because we have tossed them out, more or less, the…

Mr. Speaker, the big issue facing the White House, as the gentleman knows, is they have the proper thoughts about welfare reform, the necessity for education and training and counseling and job searching, and maybe even the necessity of…

It goes exactly against the best scientific information, which says the best nurturer of the child is the mother of the child. So to break up this relationship in a forceful manner by mandating a law that requires this seems to me an…

I think that this amendment is an egregious attempt to alter what has been the basic philosophy of this country, and that is to assume the fundamental responsibility of educating our children in our public school systems by those who do…