[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 21, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3340]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   REPAIRING A BROKEN WELFARE SYSTEM

  (Mr. RIGGS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. RIGGS. Mr. Speaker, our welfare system is broken. It encourages 
dependency, destroys initiative, and robs the poor of hope. As Ronald 
Reagan said,

       You cannot create a desert, hand a person a cup of water, 
     and call that compassion. And you cannot build up years of 
     dependence on government and dare call that hope.

  We need to break the cycle of dependency created by four decades and 
several trillion dollars of Federal payments. We need a welfare system 
that encourages personal responsibility, that requires work, and that 
gives States more flexibility to solve their own unique problems. This 
is not just a matter of fiscal responsibility, Mr. Speaker. For the 
sake of the people this Government has locked into a dehumanizing 
welfare system, we need to begin offering a hand up, not a handout. 
This is what the Republican welfare reform plan is all about--caring 
for the truly needy, while empowering people to help themselves. That 
is the American spirit, Mr. Speaker, and it is time we restore it to 
our welfare system.

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