John Shaw: “One item that has been lost in this debate, which is truly important, I think one of the proudest moments in this House…”

“One item that has been lost in this debate, which is truly important, I think one of the proudest moments in this House of Representatives was in 1996, when we passed a welfare reform bill. As a result of that, almost 3 million kids are now out of poverty. Millions and millions of people who otherwise would be on the welfare roll are on the payroll, and the welfare rolls in this country have been reduced by 60 percent, and that is why at the same time we are reducing poverty among kids. What greater accomplishment have we had? That bill runs out the end of this month. There will be no welfare and welfare reform can be forgotten. The $4.8 billion in child care will no longer be there. Four months ago on the floor of this House, we passed the extension. The Senate has not. Part of this bill is to extend welfare reform so that the checks will continue to go out. The child care will continue to be there, the job training will still be there, and all of the good things that we passed in 1996 will remain with us. But it is going to be absolutely vital that we pass this continuing resolution because this would extend it for 3 months into next year.”