[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 39 (Thursday, March 2, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H2493]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     WELFARE REFORM SHOULD EMPHASIZE SELF-SUFFICIENCY THROUGH WORK

  (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, I, like many of my colleagues and the 
majority of Americans, strongly favor welfare reform. It is crucial to 
transform the welfare system from one which fosters dependency to one 
based on self-sufficiency.
  Yet, the plan moving through Congress lacks emphasis on the one 
element critical to welfare reform: work. A person entering this newly 
reformed system could spend 2 years before engaging in any activities 
that are geared toward work. That simply isn't good enough. It is not 
good enough for taxpayers, and surely it is not good enough for people 
receiving welfare benefits who are becoming more alienated from the 
labor market.
  The goal of welfare reform should be to provide people with 
assistance in setting a path toward self-sufficiency through work.
  I have filed H.R. 865, the Self-Sufficiency Act, patterned after a 
successful welfare reform program in Utah which has reduced the welfare 
caseload in one area by 30 percent in just 2 years. More importantly, 
this was accomplished by putting people to work in the private sector.
  Let us reform welfare, but let us base it on work.

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