Timothy Roemer: “this bill, Castle-Tanner, reflects common sense because it is produced on common ground. How refreshing, Madam Chairman…”

“this bill, Castle-Tanner, reflects common sense because it is produced on common ground. How refreshing, Madam Chairman, to see Democrats and Republicans working together and trying to fix the welfare system that all Americans want us to fix. I compliment the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Tanner] and the gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle] for bringing us together, and I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation. This is how the system is supposed to work. Now, why will this bill work? Welfare reform will create work, it makes people work because it gives people work because it gives people the skills to work. This bill protects children with child care, it protects children with foster care, and it cares about making sure that people work. Way too many people get on to welfare and then too quickly go off to welfare and come right back on again. Figures indicate that it might be from 50 from 60 percent of people are on welfare for a year and then get off and then come back on. We want to make sure we put a bill together to keep them off of welfare. This bill puts $3 billion extra into the worker training programs. It provides the States with the needed flexibility so that Indiana can do some things differently from California in order to do and make people work. It also saves, Madam Chairman, $53 billion for the taxpayer. So it puts people to work, and it still saves money.”