[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 9 (Friday, February 4, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 4, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       OUR CURRENT WELFARE SYSTEM

  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I rise today to address the problem of our 
current welfare system. It is an understatement to call the current 
programs a problem. Our welfare system is, as the distinguished 
Chairman of the Finance Committee has said, in crisis. The system is a 
mess--it wastes money, and it does not achieve its purpose.
  After studying our current Federal welfare program and looking at 
several proposals to reform it, I have come to several conclusions that 
I would like to share.
  First, Washington's welfare system doesn't work. Our current welfare 
system discourages work, discourages marriage, and discourages 
responsible choices about parenthood. We have set up a cash grant 
program that tells young women--don't work, don't marry, have children, 
and you will get support. Work, marry, plan your family for when you 
can afford to support them, and we will leave you out in the cold--in 
fact, we will take your tax money to support those who have decided not 
to work.
  Second, work is what works, handouts don't work. Under the current 
welfare system, the Federal Government pays people to reject the values 
of work and family that have made this Nation strong. What we should be 
doing is making it easier to prepare for and enter the workplace. 
Welfare should be used to bring low-income mothers into the work 
force--it should not pay them to stay out.
  Third, the real answer to welfare reform will not be found inside the 
Beltway, it is in our own backyards. Wisconsin has fought on several 
fronts to reform welfare in a way that best serves the needs of 
Wisconsinites. Our Governor has a time-limited welfare program that 
soon will be implemented in two counties, and Milwaukee is the site of 
a public-private demonstration program based on the earned income tax 
credit. Other Wisconsin cities and counties--like Kenosha County--have 
innovative programs to encourage work other welfare. These Wisconsin 
programs are suited to the economic climate and the needs of the people 
the programs serve. They should be given a chance to work.
  We are a diverse country with diverse economic conditions and 
opportunities. Therefore, we cannot design a system that suits Madison 
as well as Miami.
  These conclusions have led me to begin a welfare reform proposal that 
rejects the Washington-based current system; one that encourages work 
over welfare; and one that takes a lead from the innovative programs 
being developed in States and cities across our country.
  I will propose that we eliminate the current welfare system by ending 
Aid to Families with Dependent Children and food stamps, and all the 
rules and regulations associated with those programs. In its place, I 
will be encouraging the creation of a Workfare Block Grant that would 
be modeled after the Community Development Block Grant [CDBG]. States 
would use block grant money to create and implement their own work 
programs--with appropriate but minimum Federal guidance and oversight. 
To get their grants, States would have to demonstrate that they have a 
program to move people off welfare and into work. They would have the 
flexibility to design a program that suited their communities.
  Research has overwhelmingly demonstrated that the welfare programs 
that work best are those with the greatest local input from their 
communities. States know better than the Federal Government what works 
best in their political and economic environments.
  The block grant approach would truly eliminate welfare as we know it. 
Welfare would no longer be an entitlement program. Rather than having a 
system that encourages dependency on Federal Government programs, the 
block grant would create State systems that encourage peopole to work 
and give them the skills and experience to do so.
  I invite my colleagues to offer their input. I hope to introduce 
legislation soon that embodies these welfare reform principles.

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