Political Quotes

“if there is one phrase that has characterized the debate on welfare reform, it is the phrase that ``we are going to end welfare as we have known it.'' What we have known welfare as has a number of dimensions. We have focused a great deal of attention, for instance, on the issue of what will it take to cause welfare to be seen as a temporary program, not as a permanent lifestyle. There is another dimension to welfare as we have known it. And that is how the Federal Government has participated financially with the States in financing the cost of welfare. And I speak specifically to the cash payments under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children. The current law is essentially a matching formula in which the States indicate what they are prepared to commit to this program and then the Federal Government matches that amount. There are nuances to that statement but that is fundamentally the status quo. This bill, with a minor modification, intends to retain that aspect of welfare as we have known it.”