[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 13 (Thursday, February 10, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1050
 
                       WE NEED WELFARE REFORM NOW

  (Mr. FRANKS of Connecticut asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FRANKS of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, we just recently witnessed a 
dreadful example of why it is so important to take cash out of our 
welfare system and replace it with a debit card.
  Mr. Speaker, in Chicago, 20 people were living in a 2-bedroom 
apartment, 5 families used the address to qualify for welfare--$4,500 
in welfare benefits were going to the adults in the apartment. One 
mother admitted being a drug abuser. Most likely the five adults were 
using the children to feed their drug habits. Their children were being 
abused, and we the taxpayers were inadvertently assisting.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not an isolated incident. It is happening in 
varying degrees across the country. It is our welfare system that helps 
create this problem. A welfare debit card instead of cash payments will 
help prevent child abuse, help us with our war on drugs, and finally 
give the taxpayers an accounting of their hard-earned tax dollars.

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