Political Quotes

“The AFDC program is block granted at a flat level, the Senator is right. But, obviously, there are a lot of other support services and means-tested programs that will continue to grow. The point I tried to make is that with respect to AFDC, you have the flexibility within that program the Governors desire, saying, in fact, they can save money and have money, because of the savings, available to support the work program. In addition, you have a 50-percent work participation requirement which would give the States the flexibility to exclude a lot of the people that you mentioned who have young children or maybe multiple young children, from having to go to work and the work requirement. We do provide a lot of flexibility there. We think that flexibility goes a long way in solving the problem. I am hopeful we can look at the past to see what the future holds. Looking at the past and seeing all the entitlements we put in place and seeing all the money that we spent trying to make sure nobody is harmed, what we have done is make sure that nobody has been helped. What we have not done is challenge people to do more, to move forward. I believe this program, with the work requirement and the participation standards we have and the flexibility given to States, will do just that: challenge people to go out and work and find ways to provide for themselves and their families. I think, in the long run, that will be the best for everyone concerned.”