[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 94 (Tuesday, July 19, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1220
 
                        THE SELF-SUFFICIENCY ACT

  (Mr. ORTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ORTON. Mr. Speaker, few issues enjoy unanimous support in this 
body, but there is one thing upon which most of us agree, and that is 
that our welfare system is a failure and needs reform. It too often 
provides people who choose not to work with a better deal than those 
who choose to take a job. We need to create a system where work is not 
penalized, and where the logical choice for parents is to work to 
provide for their children.
  As Congress debates reform of our welfare system, it makes sense to 
give States the flexibility to use an approach to welfare reform that 
has proven successful. For this reason, today I am pleased to introduce 
The Self-Sufficiency Act, a bill based on the success of the Single 
Parent Employment Demonstration Program in Utah.
  The Self-Sufficiency Act uses a commonsense approach to welfare that 
provides assistance to participants who are working toward self-
sufficiency, promotes work, and gradually phases out benefits to those 
who have chosen not to participate. Through this approach, this program 
has reduced spending on AFDC grants by almost 25 percent in just a year 
and a half.
  Moreover, it can be used in conjunction with most, if not all, of the 
other welfare reform proposals currently being considered.
  Amazingly, 44 Federal Government waivers had to be approved before 
the demonstration program could use this approach. This bill allows 
States to forgo the redtape and get on with helping people enter the 
labor market. It is my hope that this approach will become a national 
model for welfare reform.

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