Eva M. Clayton: “this week this House will consider H.R. 3734, a bill which proposes to reform welfare. Our welfare system needs to be…”

“this week this House will consider H.R. 3734, a bill which proposes to reform welfare. Our welfare system needs to be reformed. Reform, however, implies improvement, correction for the better. The bill we will consider, which is H.R. 3734, does not move families and children forward into the future. It keeps them trapped in the past. it does not provide mainstream methods, it dispenses extreme measures. Mr. Speaker, I want to vote for a welfare reform bill, but I intend to vote for a bill that supports children and enables parents to work by providing job training and day care. But I will not vote for H.R. 3734, a bill that is sightlessly cutting $50 billion from programs from the poorest in our Nation in a blind march to balance the budget and to give money to the richest in our Nation. Mr. Speaker, there is a bipartisan and bicameral alternative, the Castle-Tanner proposal, that ought to be considered by the House when we vote on welfare reform. Although the Castle-Tanner has provisions on immigration that need to be improved, it is a far better reform bill for our current welfare system. Last week, this House refused to spend $30 million, just $30 million, requested by the President to help control and prevent the alarming growth of teen pregnancy. Yet, we spend $6.4 billion annual on programs once teenager are pregnant and have children.”