Frank Pallone: “I felt very strongly that the Republican leadership bill was not welfare reform, would not accomplish the goal of…”

“I felt very strongly that the Republican leadership bill was not welfare reform, would not accomplish the goal of getting people off of welfare and working into productive jobs, into being productive members of society. I also was very concerned over the fact that it would take away many of the protections for children in this country. It disturbed me to a great extent to listen to some of the statements that were being made on the Republican side of the aisle on the issue of welfare reform and what we need to do to get people back to work, one of the basic tenets of this Republican leadership bill, and I think that is how it differs a great deal from the Democrat or bipartisan Castle-Tanner substitute, which I supported, is that the Republican leadership bill essentially is money-driven. In other words, its major focus, if you will, is to try to save significant amounts of money that would theoretically help us balance the budget and reduce the Federal deficit.”