Political Quotes

“As we contemplate the compromise by which we can agree to end the entitlement under the Social Security Act, title IV-A for States to receive a share of the costs for providing for dependent children, I would like to share simply for the Record a portion of a letter from Irwin Garfinkel, Alfred Kahn, and Sheila Kamerman of the Columbia University School of Social Work who are so concerned with what we may be doing here, and they write: As we are sure you know, a similar madness pervaded the nation at the close of the 19th century. Then, of course, relief policy was--aside from Civil War veterans and their survivors--strictly a state, and in practice, mostly a local responsibility. As a consequence of the severe cutback in relief, we began sending large numbers of children of single mothers to orphanages. The children were referred to as half-orphans. In reaction, 40 states established mothers pensions, the forerunner of ADC. Though we take some comfort from the reaction, our hope--that 100 years later the Nation might be spared another such misbegotten and shameful era before regaining its senses--grow dim.”