Roger Wicker said "I think I can attest, Mr. Speaker, to the difficulty we had at the State level prior to 1996 in enacting meaningful welfare reform at that level. God knows we tried and we tried to do our best, but we did not have the flexibility that we needed and that the 1996 Act has brought. We were forced into going individually on a case-by-case, law-by-law basis to the Federal Government for what we called a waiver, and hoping that we could get the department, in both Republican and Democrat administrations, to agree to those particular waivers. It just simply did not give us the flexibility that we needed. Also, I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that there was not the solid commitment to a work requirement prior to the 1996 Act." @ PoliticalQuotes.com

On the recordApril 17, 2002

I think I can attest, Mr. Speaker, to the difficulty we had at the State level prior to 1996 in enacting meaningful welfare reform at that level. God knows we tried and we tried to do our best, but we did not have the flexibility that we needed and that the 1996 Act has brought. We were forced into going individually on a case-by-case, law-by-law basis to the Federal Government for what we called a waiver, and hoping that we could get the department, in both Republican and Democrat administrations, to agree to those particular waivers. It just simply did not give us the flexibility that we needed. Also, I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that there was not the solid commitment to a work requirement prior to the 1996 Act.

Said by

Roger Wicker

Republican · Mississippi

Source

govinfo.gov

Editor's note · Context

Discussing the challenges of welfare reform at the state level before the 1996 welfare reform act.

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