[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 79 (Tuesday, June 21, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
WORK AND RESPONSIBILITY ACT OF 1994--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE 
                  UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 103-273)

  The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following message 
from the President of the United States; which was read and, together 
with the accompanying papers, without objection, referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on Education and Labor, the 
Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the 
Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 
ordered to be printed:

To the Congress of the United States:
  I am pleased to transmit for your immediate consideration and 
enactment the ``Work and Responsibility Act of 1994.''
  It is time to end welfare as we know it and replace it with a system 
that is based on work and responsibility--a system that will help 
people help themselves. This legislation reinforces the fundamental 
values of work, responsibility, family, and community. It rewards work 
over welfare. It signals that people should not have children until 
they are ready to support them, and that parents--both parents--who 
bring children into the world must take responsibility for supporting 
them. It gives people access to the skills they need and expects work 
in return. Most important, it will give people back the dignity that 
comes from work and independence. The cost of the proposal to the 
Federal Government is estimated at $9.3 billion over 5 years and is 
fully offset, primarily through reductions in entitlements and without 
new tax increases.
  The Work and Responsibility Act of 1994 will replace welfare with 
work. Under this legislation, welfare will be about a paycheck, not a 
welfare check. Our approach is based on a simple compact designed to 
reinforce and reward work. Each recipient will be required to develop a 
personal employability plan designed to move that individual into the 
work force as quickly as possible. Support, job training, and child 
care will be provided to help people move from dependence to 
independence. Time limits will ensure that anyone who can work, must 
work--in the private sector if possible, in a temporary subsidized job 
if necessary.
  This legislation includes several provisions aimed at creating a new 
culture of mutual responsibility. It includes provisions to promote 
parental responsibility and ensure that both parents contribute to 
their children's well-being. This legislation establishes the toughest 
child support enforcement program ever. It also includes: incentives 
directly tied to the performance of the welfare office; extensive 
efforts to detect and prevent welfare fraud; sanctions to prevent 
gaming of the welfare system; and a broad array of incentives that 
States can use to encourage responsible behavior.
  Preventing teen pregnancy and out-of-wedlock births is a critical 
part of welfare reform. To prevent welfare dependency, teenagers must 
get the message that staying in school, postponing pregnancy, and 
preparing to work are the right things to do. Our prevention approach 
includes a national campaign against teen pregnancy and a national 
clearinghouse on teen pregnancy prevention. Roughly 1,000 middle and 
high schools in disadvantaged areas will receive grants to develop 
innovative teen pregnancy prevention programs.
  The Work and Responsibility Act of 1994 proposes dramatic changes in 
our welfare system, changes so bold that they cannot be accomplished 
overnight. We can phase in these changes by focusing on young people, 
to send a clear message to the next generation that we are ending 
welfare as we know it. The bill targets resources on welfare 
beneficiaries born after December 31, 1971. This means that over time, 
more and more welfare beneficiaries will be affected by the new rules: 
about a third of the caseload in 1997, and half by the year 2000. 
States that want to phase in faster will have the option of doing so.
  The results of these changes will be far-reaching. In the year 2000, 
2.4 million adults will be subject to the new rules under welfare 
reform, including time limits and work requirements. Almost 1 million 
people will be either off welfare or working.
  But the impact of welfare reform cannot be measured in these numbers 
alone. This legislation is aimed at strengthening families and 
instilling personal responsibility by helping people help themselves. 
We owe every child in America the chance to watch their parents assume 
the responsibility and dignity of a real job. This bill is designed to 
make that possible.
  I urge the Congress to take prompt and favorable action on this 
legislation.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, June 21, 1994.

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