Bob Dole: “What the Bradley amendment would do is amend the plans that States must submit to receive Federal block grants. It does…”

“What the Bradley amendment would do is amend the plans that States must submit to receive Federal block grants. It does three things. It requires the State to define who is eligible and who is not eligible for cash assistance, and this creates the invitation for welfare litigation against the States over who is eligible for assistance. It creates an individual entitlement by requiring States to provide benefits to all individuals that the States deem eligible. This amendment shifts the time limit from the Federal Government to the State government. The cycle of dependency created by the entitlement must be broken. We do not want to shift that from the Federal to the State government. Finally, the amendment creates an unfunded mandate by possibly requiring States to provide unmatched funds to individuals. We do not want to create additional unfunded mandates. The point of this exercise, all the debate we have had, is to provide States with the needed flexibility to address welfare reform and not to create a possible unfunded mandate on the States or, as I said, second, another entitlement. We do not know what the cost of this amendment could possibly be.”