Tom Udall: “Today we are considering critically important legislation to reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families…”

“Today we are considering critically important legislation to reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF, block grant program for another five years. This is an incredibly important task made even more so in light of the difficult economic circumstances our country is currently facing. In light of the fact that there are over 8 million Americans out of work. And in light of the fact that nearly all of the states are facing serious fiscal crises. Unfortunately, I believe that H.R. 4 fails to take into consideration the particularly difficult times facing some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society and those becoming increasingly more vulnerable in these times of economic uncertainty. Now is not the time to impose more restrictions and costs on states and TANF recipients, yet that is precisely what H.R. 4 does. And it does so without providing any additional funding, which does not fit my definition of compassionate conservativism. Seven years ago, when TANF was created to replace the AFDC program, the bill was funded at $16.5 billion per year. Today we are considering a bill that not only provides only the exact same amount of money as the 1996 welfare reform bill, disregarding inflation, but also increases TANF recipients' required work hours from 30 hours to 40 hours a week.”