José E. Serrano: “I rise in emphatic opposition to the Republicans' welfare reform bill. I am tempted to simply repeat the remarks I made…”

“I rise in emphatic opposition to the Republicans' welfare reform bill. I am tempted to simply repeat the remarks I made last year, on the so-called Personal Responsibility Act, since the flaws in this bill are remarkably similar. But I do have a few new things to say. It is clear to all thinking people that our current welfare system fails the people it is meant to help, and every Member of this House, Democrat as well as Republican, has voted for some form of welfare reform in the last 2 years. But the Republicans' approach will make the situation of the poor--and of the charities that help them and the cities that contain them--much worse. The clearest sign that this bill is totally misguided is that it saves so much money. Everyone knows it takes more spending, not less, to give poor mothers the tools they need to get and keep jobs and to escape poverty. They need education, training, job-search assistance, day care and health care for their children, and jobs--and that means jobs that don't displace others. Cost is the main reason Congress has been slow to face welfare reform in the past. But this bill cuts the programs that sustain our neediest families. It slashes the safety net for the poorest children and families.”