Political Quotes

“Today we will vote on fundamental welfare reform legislation, a mainstream proposal that working families across the Nation have been demanding for years. Three decades and $5 trillion ago, this Nation declared war on poverty. What was the outcome? All we have to show are casualties. Children killing children, boys and girls growing up without fathers, and welfare recipients spending an average of 13 years out of work because work does not pay as well as Uncle Sam. Madam Chairman, generations have been trapped in this soul-destroying system, prisoners of the lost war on poverty. I have to ask this House: How many more of our children must we lose to poverty and violence before we say, enough is enough? We have the opportunity today to change America by fixing the failed welfare state and restoring the American dream for an abandoned underclass. Under this bill, welfare will be converted into a work program. Every person receiving welfare must work within 2 years or cash benefits will end. Under our bill, lifetime welfare benefits will be limited to 5 years but up to 20 percent of families can be exempted for hardship. States are required to have 50 percent of welfare families working by 2002. Our bill will end welfare payments for noncitizens; those we welcome to our country as guests should not abuse the hospitality of hard-working Americans. American families are spending $8 billion every year on welfare for noncitizens. That is not fair.”