Frank Pallone: “I intend to be very critical of the Republican leadership proposal which has been brought up on the floor and to praise…”

“I intend to be very critical of the Republican leadership proposal which has been brought up on the floor and to praise, if you will, the bipartisan alternative that has been put forth by the gentleman from Delaware, Congressman Castle, who is a Republican, and also the gentleman from Tennessee, Congressman Tanner, who is a Democrat. When I talk about welfare reform, and I discuss it with my constituents in my district in New Jersey, what I hear is that most of my constituents feel that in the process of welfare reform children should not suffer, children should not be harmed in any way. What my constituents say they want is they want to get people off welfare to work and to have a future for themselves and a certain pride in the fact that they are working for their families. They do not necessarily think that welfare reform should be money driven; in other words, that we should use welfare reform as a way to save money. My point tonight is that the Republican leadership bill, which we are going to be voting on tomorrow, I think falls short in terms of what my constituents want. In fact, it is tough on kids.”