Charles E. Grassley: “I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator Kohl, in his effort to dramatically and unalterably change the welfare system…”

“I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator Kohl, in his effort to dramatically and unalterably change the welfare system as we know it. This proposal is reinventing Government at its best. It moves the decisionmaking process closer to the people. The most relevant place to start when discussing standards for reinventing Government is with President Clinton's own words. On March 3, 1993, in the White House Rose Garden, the President said: Our goal is to make the entire Federal Government both less expensive and more efficient. * * *. We intend to redesign, to reinvent, to reinvigorate the entire national Government. The President went on to say: We'll challenge the basic assumptions of every program, asking does it work; does it provide quality service; does it encourage innovation and reward hard work? If the answer is no, or if there's a better way to do it or if there's something that the Federal Government is doing it should simply stop doing, we'll try to make the changes needed. When we ask the President's question concerning the current welfare system, it comes up pretty short. First, does it work? While Democrats and Republicans may not agree on many things, there is one issue about which there is complete agreement: The current welfare program is a dismal failure. President Clinton acknowledges that the war on poverty has failed.…”