[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 26 (Thursday, February 9, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1471]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       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, I would also like to wish the 
Speaker pro tempore [Mr. Barrett of Nebraska] a happy birthday today.
  Mr. Speaker, every day there are dreadful examples of why it is so 
important to take cash out of our welfare system and replace it with a 
debit card.
  In Chicago, 20 people were living in a 2-bedroom apartment, 5 
families used the address to qualify for welfare. Thus, $4,500 in 
welfare benefits were going to the adults in the apartment.

                              {time}  1030

  All five adults were alleged drug abusers. The adults were using the 
children to feed their drug habits. Their children were being abused, 
and we, the taxpayers, were inadvertently assisting.
  Mr. Speaker, 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.
  I encourage my colleagues to join the bipartisan supported welfare 
debit card bill.


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