Bill Archer: “Madam Chairman, since 1965, roughly 30 years ago, government in this country has spent $5.5 trillion on welfare…”

“Madam Chairman, since 1965, roughly 30 years ago, government in this country has spent $5.5 trillion on welfare programs, more than has been spent on all of the wars fought in this century. Yet people are poorer and more dependent than ever. Despite our best efforts, despite the expenditure of these massive amounts of money, we have lost the war on poverty. Madam Chairman, today, we stand on the threshold of a new effort, an effort that can win the war. With the vote we take today, we recognize that the Great Society's welfare programs have not helped people. They have destroyed people. They have not kept families together. They have torn them apart. These policies haven't turned urban areas of America into shining cities on a hill. They have made them into war zones where law-abiding citizens are afraid to go out at night. They have led to the creation of two Americas. One marked by hope and opportunity. The other by despair and decay. In short, the welfare state has created a world in which children have no dreams for tomorrow and parents have abandoned their hopes for today. The people trapped in welfare, the mothers, the children, the fathers, are our fellow citizens, one and all. We have a moral obligation to them, as Americans, to lend a helping hand. For the people on welfare aren't abusing welfare, as much as welfare is abusing them.”