[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 447 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 447

   Expressing the sense of the Congress that States should have the 
    flexibility to design welfare programs that make sense in their 
   communities with an overall goal of helping children and reducing 
               poverty by promoting and supporting work.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 13, 2006

   Mr. McDermott (for himself and Mr. Levin) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
                                 Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the Congress that States should have the 
    flexibility to design welfare programs that make sense in their 
   communities with an overall goal of helping children and reducing 
               poverty by promoting and supporting work.

Whereas the number of children in poverty dropped from 14,500,000 to 11,600,000 
        between 1996 and 2000;
Whereas the percentage of single mothers working increased from 63.5 percent in 
        1996 to nearly 73 percent in 2000;
Whereas dramatic gains in the collection of child support have been achieved 
        since 1996;
Whereas many States substantially increased their investments in key work 
        supports such as child care and transportation, making it possible for 
        the parents of poor children to go to work;
Whereas a strong economy in the late 1990s, a significant increase in the Earned 
        Income Tax Credit, and a number of new Federal and State welfare 
        policies helped stimulate these improvements;
Whereas a significant portion of this progress has been reversed in the last 4 
        years;
Whereas over 5,000,000 more Americans fell into poverty since 2000, including 
        1,500,000 children;
Whereas the percentage of employed single women with children declined from 
        nearly 73 percent in 2000 to less than 69 percent in 2005;
Whereas as many as half of the parents who left welfare for work lacked health 
        insurance a year later, in part because of problems in the Transitional 
        Medicaid program;
Whereas the percentage of poor single mothers who report they are neither 
        working nor receiving cash welfare increased to 33 percent in 2004, the 
        highest rate on record according to an analysis from the Congressional 
        Research Service (CRS);
Whereas, in 2004, children of single mothers in extreme poverty experienced a 
        dwindling benefit from their mothers' income, as that income dropped to 
        its lowest level in at least 18 years, reaching only 26.4 percent of the 
        poverty threshold;
Whereas Congress had an opportunity to help restore the progress of the late 
        1990s by continuing the States' flexibility to design programs to meet 
        local needs but with a stronger emphasis on making work pay and reducing 
        poverty as the end goal of welfare reform;
Whereas federally funded research has demonstrated that State programs which 
        focused on moving people to better jobs resulted in longer-term 
        employment, more family self-sufficiency, and fewer returns to cash 
        assistance;
Whereas Congress enacted provisions in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2006 (DRA) 
        that instead impeded State flexibility to pursue many of the strategies 
        that have proved to be most effective in generating long-term 
        employment, while also increasing the incentive to cut caseloads at the 
        expense of reducing poverty;
Whereas provisions in the DRA went so far as to impose Federal requirements on 
        programs implemented with only State funds, including on programs 
        designed specifically to help two-parent families;
Whereas the Congressional Budget Office has estimated it will cost States 
        $8,400,000,000 over 5 years to comply with the requirements of the DRA;
Whereas the value of the grants provided to States under the Temporary 
        Assistance for Needy Families Program will have lost 27 percent of their 
        original value by 2010 under the DRA;
Whereas only one-quarter of children eligible for child care assistance under 
        State eligibility rules receive any assistance and only one-seventh of 
        those eligible under Federal criteria receive such aid;
Whereas the Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will cost 
        $3,500,000,000 over the next 5 years for Federal child care funding to 
        maintain pace with inflation and simply continue the current level of 
        child care services, yet the DRA provided less than one-third of that 
        amount; and
Whereas the value of work has been allowed to dangerously erode, with the 
        minimum wage now at it lowest level as a percentage of poverty on 
        record, not even reaching 70 percent of the poverty threshold for full-
        time, full-year work: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That it is the sense of the Congress that rewarding hard work and 
helping families and children escape poverty is a vital national 
interest, and that the Federal Government should provide States with 
sufficient guidance, flexibility, encouragement, and resources to 
pursue this goal through their welfare programs.
                                 <all>