Political Quotes

“the dilemma with the Helms amendment is very simple. That is in many communities throughout the country there are not volunteer programs. There are not work programs that people could take up. In some cases, there are not jobs. Frankly, the problem is the amendment affects able-bodied people who are temporarily laid off, as people sometimes are in this country, during recessions or during closing of factories or economic change. It does not really give a very good opportunity for those people to qualify for food stamps. USDA estimates 700,000 people would be affected. By and large, these are people, often with long work records, who temporarily have bad luck. In my judgment, the amendment has the merit of trying to tighten up the food stamp situation but it does so at the expense of able-bodied Americans who should not be penalized. I encourage the Senate to defeat the amendment.”