[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 21, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3333]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 1995, the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Norwood] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NORWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Personal 
Responsibility Act. With this act, we will make tremendous strides in 
changing the incentive structure to make people more responsible for 
their actions. We will bring an end to the failed welfare system that 
has done so much more harm than good over the past 30 years. And we 
will do so over the objections of those who refuse to see the disaster 
that the system has become.
  Mr. Speaker, can anyone seriously argue that the welfare system has 
been a success? The welfare system was supposed to be a safety net. 
Instead it has become quicksand that few people ever return from. Of 
familiar now on AFDC, 65 percent will remain on welfare for at least 8 
years. The average length of stay for people on the rolls at any given 
time is 13 years, 13 years. And what do we as a nation expect in return 
for supporting people for years and years? Nothing.
 We have no real work requirement, job-training requirement, or 
education requirement for people receiving welfare.

  Mr. Speaker, the welfare system has caused the disintegration of the 
family. Fathers have become irrelevant, replaced by a welfare check as 
the family provider. In 1965, 7 percent of children in this Nation were 
born out of wedlock. In 1990, 32 percent of children in this Nation 
were born out of wedlock. Could welfare have possibly been more 
destructive to the family? Mr. Speaker, as we study the welfare system, 
I am absolutely certain of one thing--we could do nothing worse than to 
preserve the current welfare system.
  Mr. Speaker, the Personal Responsibility Act is about changing 
incentives. It is about forcing people to take responsibility for their 
actions. Unlike the current system, after 2 years on welfare, you will 
go to work. Unlike the current system, if you are under 18, you will 
not automatically receive a check for having a child. Unlike the 
current system, if you are on welfare, having an additional child will 
not automatically mean another check. Unlike the current system, if you 
father a child, we will find you, and you will take financial 
responsibility for your child.
  The Personal Responsibility Act will give the States the ability to 
deal with these issues, and it will remove power from the hands of 
Federal bureaucrats. Contrary to the Democratic myth, in the area of 
child nutrition, we are increasing funding by eliminating the costly 
ransom taken by Federal bureaucrats. We will give the States the 
opportunity to make real change, as in Wisconsin where welfare payments 
were reduced for those who left school, and high school drop-outs 
returned to school to finish their degrees. We will give the States 
opportunity to get tough as in Michigan, where a serious work 
requirement for welfare recipients met with harsh criticism from 
liberals, and now the welfare rolls have fallen to their lowest level 
in 7 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I challenge the other side to join us in an honest 
debate about the failed welfare system. I ask you to join the debate 
about changing incentives and forcing people to take responsibility for 
their actions. But I realize some of you cannot accept my challenge; I 
know that some of you are too dependent on the protecting the role of 
Government; to you I say this: If you can do nothing more than defend 
this morally bankrupt system, if you can do nothing more than obscure 
the facts in a desperate attempt to protect the status quo, well then I 
would have to say I feel sorry for you. Because the American people are 
calling out for change, and they expect more than weak and spurious 
defenses of a failed welfare system.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, to defeat the 
forces of the failed status quo, to confront those who will distort the 
truth, and to do what is right and long overdue for America.


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