[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 1, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1030]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                             WELFARE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I support welfare reform. Reform, however, 
does not mean change for the sake of change. Reform means change for 
the sake of improvement. As we move to reform the welfare system, let 
us make sure that we make a better system, not just a different system. 
Some of our programs are working and working well. Nutrition programs 
have proven their worth.
  This morning, the House Committee on Agriculture held its first 
hearing of the 104th Congress. The subject of the hearing was the Food 
Stamp Program. During the hearing, we heard of instances of fraud and 
abuse. The information received at the hearing may tempt some to call 
for the elimination of the Food Stamp Program. Such calls, however, 
would not take the good that the program does into account. The good 
far outweighs any problems that the program may experience.
  The Food Stamp Program was instituted to confront hunger in America. 
Over 27 million people in the United States are served by the program--
more than half of them, 51 percent--are children. Seven percent are 
elderly. In the State of North Carolina alone, over 627,000 people 
receive food stamp benefits--and--over half of that total, 323,552--are 
children.
  In 1993, North Carolina received $512 million in food stamp funding. 
In my district, 74,370 hungry people benefit. However, with the cuts 
that have been proposed in nutrition programs, it is estimated that 
North Carolina will lose nearly 20 percent of its food stamp funding. 
That loss will mean the loss or reduction in benefits for almost 44,000 
North Carolinians. Additionally, it is estimated that should the Food 
Stamp Program be converted to block grants, approximately 3,122 jobs 
will be lost in North Carolina alone--this means about $33.9 million in 
lost wages. This is just in my home State of North Carolina. Mr. 
Speaker, that is but one legacy of the balanced budget amendment and 
the contract on America. The people have a right to know. Unless we act 
to prevent it, there will be drastic cuts in funds for school meals and 
WIC as well.
  This Nation is great, not because of its military might, although it 
is important to be strong militarily. We are great, not
 because of our success in diplomacy, although it is important to move 
effectively in the world arena. What makes us a great nation however, 
is the compassion we show for those who live in the shadows of life--
the young, the old, the poor, and the disabled.

  When history and the voters judge us, in the end, we will not be 
judged by how much we mindlessly cut. We will be judged by how much we 
truly cared. The school meals program gives to our young people the 
nutrition they need, the strength that is required, to make it through 
the school day. Last year we fed free and reduced price breakfast to 
more than 5 million children nationwide. The money we spent for that 
program, nationwide, is now threatened.
  In North Carolina, 180,000 children were fed breakfast, free or at a 
reduced price last year. Those children may go hungry at school next 
year. That could be one of the legacies of the balanced budget 
amendment and the contract on America. The people have a right to know, 
and I intend to tell them. Similarly, the National School Lunch Program 
which served 13\1/2\ million children last year, will likely serve far 
fewer next year.
  In North Carolina, money from the national program was spent to serve 
free or reduced priced lunches to some 379,000 children. The people 
have a right to know that those funds may be lost. The special 
supplemental program for women, infants, and children [WIC] is 
threatened. Important Federal funds were spent last year for 6 million 
WIC participants. Nearly $74 million of those funds were spent in North 
Carolina, servicing 169,000 WIC participants from my State.
  After school programs, summer programs, violence prevention programs 
all may be slashed for years to come under the balanced budget 
amendment mandate and the contract on America. The people have not been 
told about these cuts, and they have a right to know. We face the 
creation of thousands, perhaps millions, of new orphans because we are 
threatening to cut the cord of life from those parents, struggling to 
make ends meet, and their children, innocent in every respect.
  Mr. Speaker, I support welfare reform and I include the remainder of 
my speech in the Record at this point, as follows:
  Yes, I support welfare reform. But, in the words of Susan B. Anthony, 
``Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve social 
standing, can never bring about reform.'' These are not times to be 
cautious and careful about government.
  Yes, we need a smaller, more effective government. But, we also need 
a bold and visionary government--a government that changes with the 
times, but remains fundamentally unchanged--an instrument for the many, 
not just for the few.


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