Pete Domenici: “Let me say, the arguments have been made more eloquently than I can make them. As I understand it, tomorrow, when this…”

“Let me say, the arguments have been made more eloquently than I can make them. As I understand it, tomorrow, when this matter comes up for a vote, we will each have a minute to respond. I think I will not respond at this point other than to say clearly there are benefits beyond the cash assistance benefit that is being modified here. That program called AFDC, the cash assistance, we are trying to terminate that as a way of life after 5 years. That does not mean that other programs that assist people who are poor, including poor children, are terminated by this bill. So voucher-type programs in the housing area and others are still going to be available. The question is, Do you want to break the cycle of dependency in this basic AFDC Program at 5 years, or do you want to break that and then start up another one? That is the issue. Do you want to start up a whole new bureaucracy of vouchers and the like, or do you want to break that dependency and get on with changing the very culture of the welfare system. I think part of that is what this amendment addresses.”