Jay Rockefeller: “there are many provisions within this reconciliation conference report that are deeply troubling to me, but at this…”

“there are many provisions within this reconciliation conference report that are deeply troubling to me, but at this point, I want to focus my concerns on provisions that undermine the historic 1996 welfare reform bill. That bill changed the old broken welfare system into a new program that encouraged people to work their way into self-sufficiency. In 1996, I was an active participant in the controversial but bipartisan negotiations to boldly change our outdated welfare system, known then as the Aid to Families with Dependent Children, AFDC. Under the old rules, parents were discouraged and penalized from trying to work. In 1996, after contentious but full bipartisan debate by the House and Senate, we passed a bold new program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF. The new rules encouraged and required parents to move from welfare to work, but there were incentives to help parents, and billions of new dollars in childcare so parents could work with the knowledge that their child had childcare. Such supports are essential so that parents can make a successful transition. The historic reform of 1996 also made changes in the child support enforcement programs, and further enhancements were made in 1998 to improve child support enforcement. While progress has been made on both programs, the child support enforcement has been a real success story. In 1996, child support enforcement collected $12 billion.…”