Gilbert Gutknecht: “And if I could, the real tragedy, it seems to me, is that in many respects well intentioned government programs have…”

“And if I could, the real tragedy, it seems to me, is that in many respects well intentioned government programs have made the breakdown of the family even worse, and again I think the American people are way out in front of us on this. I think they know that. I do not think they have to read that. I also want to indicate before we leave the story of Marvin Olasky, I have read his work, too. I have had a chance to meet with him several times, a remarkable human being, and his story is a terribly powerful story. And I would say this for the benefit of Members or those who may be watching: I am just about out, but I have a very abbreviated version of that. And I would make it available to Members who would like the story of Marvin Olasky and the Tragedy of American Compassion and the history of how we really dealt with poverty in America and what de Tocqueville meant when he said that America's greatness was in her goodness and that, if we ever fail to be good, we will fail to be great; and goodness was not about more and bigger government programs. Goodness was about what you did in your community and your neighborhood, what you did in terms of volunteering and sharing with those who were really down and out. The interesting thing too about the whole welfare debate and discussion is that there are some very good examples of programs that do work, but those are not the models unfortunately which Washington decides to model in most cases.”