William Helms: “The pending amendment, offered by Senator Faircloth and me, and cosponsored by the distinguished Senator from Texas…”

“The pending amendment, offered by Senator Faircloth and me, and cosponsored by the distinguished Senator from Texas, [Mr. Gramm], the distinguished Senator from Oklahoma, [Mr. Nickles], the distinguished Senator from Alabama, [Mr. Shelby], and the distinguished Senator from New Hampshire, [Mr. Smith], is very simple. It requires able-bodied food stamp recipients to go to work for at least 20 hours a week--if they expect to continue to receive food stamps free of charge--at the expense, I might emphasize, of those taxpayers who work 40 hours a week or more to pay the bill. I must be candid--other food stamp proposals do not go nearly far enough, in my judgment, in making workfare a reality. I do not believe it is fair to working Americans, many of whom have to work two jobs or more in order to feed and clothe their families, to have to pay taxes to support those who are not motivated to get off their rear ends and join the work force of America. Who knows, Mr. President, if they tried it, they might like it. If they are obliged to go to work a little bit for their free food stamps, they might just be surprised to discover that it is rewarding to work regularly and permanently like most other Americans have to do.”