John B. Breaux: “I will say, in response to the Senator from Texas, that there is bipartisan agreement, and the bipartisan agreement is…”

“I will say, in response to the Senator from Texas, that there is bipartisan agreement, and the bipartisan agreement is that this is a bad idea: The National Governors' Association, the NGA, headed by Gov. Tommy Thompson, who I think is a leading Republican, opposes this measure. The NGA, in their letter to all Members of the Congress, say very clearly: The NGA supports a family cap as an option rather than as a mandate to prohibit benefits to additional children born or conceived while the parent is on welfare. What this amendment does is to require that the States affirmatively pass legislation to get out from under this mandate that people in Washington are sending down to the States. That is why the bipartisan NGA strongly opposes the provisions in the bill as it is written. They would like the option to do that if they want to, but they certainly do not want Washington to mandate that they cannot have assistance to children of a family who are born while they are on welfare, simply because they do not want to penalize the children. Be as tough as we want to be on the mothers and the parents, but not on the children. In addition to that, the Catholic Bishops' Conference, which has been very active, along with a number of other groups, feels very strongly this legislation should not have the mandate the bill currently has. They say very clearly that this provision would result in more poverty, hunger and illness for poor children.”