Political Quotes

“I yield 4 minutes to the former chair of this Subcommittee on Human Resources, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott). Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill to renew the Nation's child welfare programs. I'm glad to see this happening as it has in the past by unanimous consent, and it's important not just to keep these programs funded and renewed. With more than one in five children in the country living in poverty and with so many odds stacked against foster kids, we need to do more. We need to make progress. That's why I'm so supportive of this bill, because it is not just an extension of the program; it has some important and targeted innovations. Some States, especially my home State of Washington, have some truly new ideas about how they can do more to prevent children being put into foster care even in tough economic times. One of the real innovations of this bill is to give States waivers for some governmental funding restrictions so that they can test these innovative interventions in their child welfare programs. If the States can maintain their current quality and if the innovations they want to try meet solid criteria, the Federal Government should be a partner in making real progress. That's what these new waivers do. Washington State is one of the leaders in innovating child welfare policy, and it has some things it has been eager to try out.…”