Mark Neumann: “I am hearing this is about politics. We just saw the headline there in the Wisconsin State Journal after the President's…”

“I am hearing this is about politics. We just saw the headline there in the Wisconsin State Journal after the President's address: ``Wisconsin Welfare Plan Okayed by Clinton.'' It was the next day. It was literally the Monday after this Sunday headline that we see in the Washington Times, ``White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Harold Ickes, Later Backpedaled, Telling the Washington Post the Details of the Wisconsin Plan Will Have To Be Negotiated.'' It was clear to him that the President had said OK to the Wisconsin welfare reform plan. It was clear to the Washington papers that he was now backpedaling from what he said. What we are doing here today is not about politics, it is about the heart and soul of what I am doing here in Washington, DC. It is about wrestling this power away from the bureaucracy that exists in this city and giving it back to the people so the people can again have a chance to make good decisions that influence their lives. We talk about welfare. Sometimes we just do not get the right parts of this discussion in here. When I was sitting playing cribbage on Saturday night, a good friend of mine said to me, she says, if the people really need help, we will help them. We are willing to help the people that are truly in need. But the conversation continued. It is the people that are able to go into the work force and have a chance to leave the welfare roll.”