Some have a negative tax rate. Many of our largest corporations are paying effective tax rates that are single-digit.

Despite all the alarmist articles that the sky is falling and the disability program is about to crash, that, in fact, we have a very sound disability program.

So, Mr. Speaker, rather than arguing over whether the States have all the flexibility they need, our goal ought to be: For the taxpayer and for poor Americans, how can we get more people into the workforce? And today's bill contributes…

I think the real poverty at stake today is the poverty of cooperation, that of seeking a bipartisan response to poverty, a poverty of balance that contributes to the many children and their parents who are out there and who are seeing so…

I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I believe in the value of work. That's one of the reasons that I voted for the 1996 welfare reform law, because I wanted to see more people move from welfare to work. Our laws need to encourage job…

As we continue very important efforts to strengthen the middle class in America, I think it's important to recognize that there are millions of Americans who would like to be part of it, who are struggling at the bottom rungs of the…

I don't believe, though there have been some spotty successes, that that law has begun to fulfill its promise.

I believe in the value of work. I voted for the 1996 welfare law because I supported moving people from welfare to work.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

the responsibility for those failures is shared by many: States who did not do their part; an Administration that has not come forward with its own plan; and Republicans here in Congress who have continued to build on old, flawed…

We have already let one program, the supplemental grants under TANF, expire.

And why is it that we need additional data from HHS?

I believe that our Federal Adoption Incentives program, which provides financial awards to the States that increase the number of children adopted out of foster care above a certain baseline, is an important part of the effort, the joint…

The Adoption Incentives program... rewards States if they increase the number of children leaving foster care for adoptive homes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to each of our witnesses not only for your testimony, but for the devotion you show to this very important and challenging cause.

I have a background with 33 years in law enforcement, but also some personal experience in the adoption/foster care arena.

Do the maintenance-of-effort requirements need to be altered?

Not every child has been so lucky to have a home.

who wants to hire when you don't know if there are going to be payments made by the government.

the effect on economic growth will be very damaging.

when we concluded the Clinton Administration, we had a surplus for the first time in recent memory, and a huge tax cut.

the direct cost of Republicans taking us right up to the brink on the debt... was over a billion dollars in increased interest costs.

I would yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, as Texas District Judge Darlene Byrne, a leader in establishing child protection courts has said: Childhood should be a time of innocence and freedom, but it is a sad fact that…

My thanks to Chairman Camp and Chairman Paulsen, whose leadership has facilitated our consideration of this bill today and the crafting of it into the piece of legislation that it is. I rise in support of the Protect Our Kids Act, which…

I yield 2 minutes to the ranking member of the Health Subcommittee on the Commerce Committee, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).