Political Quotes

“the majority will say that they have a letter from the Congressional Budget Office saying that this is not an unfunded mandate, but what the majority will not mention is that they have a letter from the Congressional Budget Office that says that this bill will significantly change the way the States have to spend their money on TANF; that it will cost them an additional $11 billion in order to comply with the mandates that are included in this bill. Now, my definition of an unfunded mandate is telling the States they have to do something and not giving them the extra money to do it with. That is exactly what the bill does. It mandates the States to develop workfare programs, it requires the States to spend more money on child care in order to deal with the new work requirements, and the States do not have the money and resources to do it. Mr. Speaker, I have heard my colleagues on both sides of the aisle say they are for child care, that children should not be penalized, that we have to have safe and affordable child care. Our States are telling us they need the money. This motion does one thing and one thing only: It increases the amount of child care by $11 billion to equal what our Congressional Budget Office is telling us is the increased burden on the States. That is all it does. I would urge my colleagues to listen to our governors. Listen to what we have said in the past about unfunded mandates.”