Eva M. Clayton: “in our rush to meet an artificial, 100-day goal, it is a fair question to ask, are we hurting more than we are helping?…”

“in our rush to meet an artificial, 100-day goal, it is a fair question to ask, are we hurting more than we are helping? In yesterday's New York Times, an article noted that when the Personal Responsibility Act was marked up by the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunity, the language passed resulted in 57,000 children of military families being denied access to the school feeding programs that would be established. To restore this feeding program for the military, it will cost the Pentagon more than $5 million for meals and another $5 million for administrative costs. It seems, Mr. Speaker, that we profess to want a strong military, yet we pass legislation that will cause military children to go hungry. These actions are either mean spirited or grossly negligent. Either way, America suffers. Let us demonstrate that we are wise enough to know that welfare reform means real wage reform for poor people and not taking food out of the mouths of children. Let us demonstrate the strength of having reason and compassion.”