David Thomas: “Mr. Speaker, there will be a number of claims made on the floor during the debate of this particular piece of…”

“Mr. Speaker, there will be a number of claims made on the floor during the debate of this particular piece of legislation. The one thing I hope people keep in mind is that it is my fervent hope that the goals of the legislation are supported by all. It is always possible to argue emphasis, direction, focus, degree of emphasis. When we debated this bill repeatedly in 1996, there were some rather dramatic claims made by its opponents about dire and Draconian circumstances that would form a dark cloud over America if the legislation passed. I happen to believe one of the bright points of the Clinton administration was his willingness after repeated offers to sign the 1996 legislation. Oftentimes claims are made without the ability to determine whether or not the, if you will, experiment was going to be successful or not. I think there is no question that the general shift in emphasis from welfare to work has been a success. Has it been an unqualified success? No, but it clearly has been a success, and what we are embarking on now is an attempt to put legislation together that will focus on areas that need greater attention to maximize the opportunity to move people from poverty to productive work, from welfare to a respect for those basic, tantamount, underlying American concepts, and there is no area more important than focusing on the people who are on welfare and the needs they have to be able to assist themselves.”