Arlen Specter: “Briefly, Mr. President, I will itemize six of these issues which I believe show the superiority of the Biden-Specter…”

“Briefly, Mr. President, I will itemize six of these issues which I believe show the superiority of the Biden-Specter bill over the committee report as embraced in Senate bill 1956. The first difference is that the budget reconciliation bill eliminates child-care safety standards from existing law, whereas the Biden-Specter bill maintains those child-care safety standards, which I submit are very important. The second significant difference in provisions is that in the Biden-Specter bill there is an individual responsibility contract, while the budget reconciliation bill has none. This individual responsibility contract is an agreement entered into by the Government on one side and the welfare recipient on the other, which specifies the responsibilities of each, which I submit is a significant step forward and is desirable to have in the legislation. The third significant activity is that the Biden-Specter bill provides funding for work-activities funding, which is a very important element.”