Barbara Mikulski: “I rise in support of the Wellstone amendment and am an enthusiastic cosponsor of it. I come to the Senate floor as a…”

“I rise in support of the Wellstone amendment and am an enthusiastic cosponsor of it. I come to the Senate floor as a professionally trained social worker. I have been through seven welfare reforms in my career, both as a social worker in the streets and neighborhoods, and now in the corridors of the U.S. Senate. When we talk about reforming welfare, we want to make sure that welfare is not a way of life but that it is a tool to move to a better life. Over the break I sat in a room in Baltimore meeting with welfare mothers who wanted exactly to move to a better life and who were practicing self-help. But the very cruel rules of government are going to derail their hopes, dreams, and practical opportunities. And what is that? They were enrolled in a community college program--one in business, one as an addiction counselor, and one doing prenursing courses to make sure they could get back to society and be able to give an income to their family. But they were told they had to leave the program. They had to leave the program and look for work rather than complete the program so that they could have jobs that were truly self-supporting and sustaining.”