Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, as we said before, the 1996 act has been a huge success in helping 9 million American families move from welfare to work, lifting their spirits, allowing them to participate in the mainstream of American life. The proposal that is before us, the substitute offered by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, would literally take us back to the pre-1996 welfare reform bill that trapped people in dependency and never really allowed them the opportunity to be all they could be. We have the lowest African American child poverty rate in history as a result of the 1996 changes. We believe that we will make more advances in giving States more flexibility, more child care money, stronger work requirements to help move more people from welfare to work. Even though welfare rolls are down 60 percent from where they were in 1996, the States are getting the same amount of money, so Members can argue that they will be able to spend twice as much as they have in helping those on the system. Let us not go back, let us move ahead.”