Political Quotes

“For our colleagues who have listened to the debate today on the reauthorization of H.R. 4, the welfare reform law, I probably do not have to remind my colleagues that the sounds of the debate, the points that have been made, were all made in 1996. Members on our side of the aisle and, frankly, half the Members on the Democrat side of the aisle who supported the 1996 welfare reform law were confident that we could help move people from a life of dependency, despair and hopelessness to a life where they do have hope, they do have opportunity and can move into the mainstream of American society. As my colleagues have seen over the course of this debate, the 1996 welfare reform law has been a tremendous success, even to the point where the New York Times called it an obvious success. The substitute that is before us today undermines every major 1996 welfare reform law improvement, reversing recent historic gains in work, independence, family flexibility and in funding. I think it hurts our most vulnerable recipients. I think we create a costly new entitlement with the substitute that we have before us. It undermines work requirements and goes back and creates the same kind of dependency that we saw prior to 1996.”