Edolphus Towns: “vote no on this pain and shame that we are inflicting on young people, a garbage bill. This agreement along with the…”

“vote no on this pain and shame that we are inflicting on young people, a garbage bill. This agreement along with the other vetoed welfare bills amount to nothing short of a rollcall of pain and shame that will be dumped on those Americans who are clearly in need of a social service safety net. And to add to that pain, legal immigrants will bear 40 percent of the cuts in welfare even though they make up only 5 percent of the population receiving welfare benefits. No one is satisfied with the way welfare policy is constructed or practiced. The Federal Government doesn't like it; the local administrators don't like it; the social workers don't like it; the majority of the taxpayers don't like it and the recipients don't like it. There is no doubt that the welfare system in this country needs to be changed. Clearly reform is necessary. However, the overall scope of the proposed reforms will victimize those Americans most in need of assistance. I urge a ``no'' vote on this conference agreement.”