[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 26 (Thursday, February 9, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1541-H1542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas, Mr. Gene Green, is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise again tonight and take 
the floor again tonight to continue the discussion of the Personal 
Responsibility Act.
  The Personal Responsibility Act is the Republican majority's welfare 
reform act. I wish us to take a closer look at the Personal 
Responsibility Act and how it affects all of us in the United States 
but particularly the State of Texas.
  As I have stated on several occasions before, the Personal 
Responsibility Act would cut Federal funding in Texas over $1 billion 
in fiscal year 1996 alone, representing a cut of 30 percent. There are 
unsubstantiated rumors running through the Capitol that the senior 
nutrition program has been pulled from the Personal Responsibility Act. 
If this is true, I congratulate the Republican majority in their 
recognition of the absurdity that is included in the Republicans' 
Contract With America, reducing funding for meals-on-wheels and other 
senior programs. It just does not make sense.
  Under the original Personal Responsibility Act, the Houston Harris 
County Area Agency on Aging provided preliminary numbers last week from 
which we estimated how many seniors would be denied meals per day in 
Houston.

                              {time}  1940

  After a closer calculation, the Area Agency on Aging has provided me 
with a letter that says 320 seniors would be denied a meal each day, 
80,000, more than 80,000 meals a year if the Personal Responsibility 
Act passed in its present form. I insert that letter in the Record at 
this point, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the opportunity to do that.
  The letter referred to is as follows:

         City of Houston, Health and Human Services Department,
                                     Houston, TX, February 2, 1995
     Mr. Gene Green,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, D.C.
       Dear Congressman Green: Per the request from your office 
     regarding the impact of 30% reduction in our USDA Award, the 
     following information is provided:
       The 30% reduction in our USDA Award would translate to 
     80,357 less meals available to our nutrition participants. 
     When further analyzed on a daily basis, this would mean 320 
     seniors per day would not be served a congregate or home 
     delivered meal.
       The Area Agency on Aging serves seniors who are 60 years 
     and older. A dependent child of an eligible senior would also 
     be eligible for our services.
       If additional information is required, please contact 
     Charlene Hunter James, MPH, Director, Houston/Harris County 
     Area Agency on Aging at (713)794-9001.
           Sincerely,
                                   M. desVignes-Kendrick, MD, MPH,
    
    
                                                         Director.

  On the front page of today's Washington Post, Mr. Speaker, I saw a 
headline that said, ``Republican officials agree on repealing welfare 
entitlements.'' That is like two hyenas fighting over a deer with the 
grandparents and children seeing what is left for them. Unfortunately 
over a hundred thousand seniors in Harris County had no voice in that 
agreement, who may or may not get a hot meal, if these rumors are not 
correct.
  The American people, they want results. How can we have the results 
[[Page H1542]]  when 46 percent of the Members of Congress were simply 
left out of the process between the Republican Governors and the 
Republican majority?
  In that article in the Washington Post, Mr. Speaker, Vermont Governor 
Dean describes the situation very clearly. He states the agreement is 
only a deal between the Republicans. Political partisanship must not 
take precedent over the lives for seniors or, for that matter, children 
or mothers.
  Allow me to remind my colleagues that school breakfast and lunch 
programs are not included in the rumors that were talked about, 
removing senior citizens food programs. Thousands of school children 
are still under this budget ax when school nutrition programs are 
subject to a 30-percent cut through this personal responsibility, and 
tonight we still do not know if our senior citizen nutrition programs 
are exempt.
  Congress should end the welfare as it is currently operating, but the 
Personal Responsibility Act should not include nutrition programs, 
whether they be for our seniors or for our youngest children in this 
country.


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