Don Nickles: “the Washington Post today had an editorial that was critical of me. Basically, it said, wait a minute, we granted…”

“the Washington Post today had an editorial that was critical of me. Basically, it said, wait a minute, we granted waivers to other areas. Why would you try and take away parts of the waiver--they actually said we were repealing the entire waiver. They were wrong. Why would you do this just for the District of Columbia if not for other areas? The legislation I introduced, frankly, did not apply just to the District of Columbia. It says a 5-year time limit applies to everybody in the country. There won't be a single waiver to exempt someone from the 5-year limit. That was the guts of the bill. There would not be a waiver that would undo work requirements. Those were the two major elements of the bill. It just so happens that the District of Columbia was the only waiver request that went directly away from welfare reform. There are 30 States, plus the District of Columbia, who have received welfare waivers. Guess what? All 30, except for the District of Columbia, moved toward work requirements, toward time limits--most of which had shorter time limits than 5 years. But not the District of Columbia; it was a waiver away from welfare reform, a waiver for the status quo, and it was a waiver, basically, where President Clinton and the Clinton administration was saying: District of Columbia, you are exempt from welfare reform. We don't think you need to do it. I am pleased I finally hear that HHS has rescinded the order.…”