Karen Shepherd: “I thank the gentleman from South Carolina for allowing me to be part of this event where we examine all the different…”

“I thank the gentleman from South Carolina for allowing me to be part of this event where we examine all the different parts of the welfare system and the reform that is going on, because literally almost nothing could be more important to the future of this country. Mr. Speaker, as the Congress begins to consider reforming our admittedly broken welfare system, I want to call attention to the deteriorating situation facing many of our Nation's infants and toddlers. As we develop a new public assistance system replete with incentives and penalties aimed at moving people off public assistance and into the private sector workforce, let us remember that 9.6 million AFDC recipients, a full two-thirds of the entire caseload, are children. Let us also bear in mind every child's need for a loving, nurturing and stable family environment and resulting lifetime of benefits. Recently, the Carnegie Corporation issued a comprehensive report chronicling the bleak circumstances faced by many children under 3 years of age. The statistics, and there is the face of a young girl or boy behind every one, are appalling for a country possessing such abundance. A staggering 1 in every 4 children now lives in poverty, 28 percent of births are to unmarried mothers and as many as 60 percent of all two-year-olds do not receive all necessary immunizations to prevent childhood disease.”