[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 54 (Thursday, March 23, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H3704-H3705]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             WELFARE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Chabot] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker I yield to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. 
Hoke].
  Mr. HOKE. Mr. Speaker, I just want to point out in this child 
nutrition school based block grant and current law, CRS report dated 
March 20, that in the State of California the increase from 1996 over 
1995 on these school based programs is from $808 million to $854 
million, an increase of $46 million.
  Mr. CHABOT. Reclaiming the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker, I would 
like to read a direct quote, what one of our former Presidents said 
about welfare. Here is what he said:

       The lessons of history show conclusively the continued 
     dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral 
     disintegration fundamentally disruptive to the national 
     fiber. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a 
     narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.

  Now some of my liberal Democratic colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle would probably call that statement mean spirited. But do you know 
who said that? Which one of our Presidents? Well, he was a Democrat. It 
was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was speaking to Congress, and he was 
absolutely right.
  Sadly, Congress did not listen. Instead the Federal welfare 
monstrosity tore families apart. It destroyed individual initiative and 
mocked the concept of personal responsibility. It has become the 
narcotic, the destroyer of the human spirit, that Franklin Roosevelt 
decried. The welfare system has trapped millions upon millions of 
Americans in a snare of dependency.
                              {time}  2015

  Generation after generation of people in this country never work. 
They get a welfare check every month, and they live off those Americans 
who do work. It is an absolute disgrace, in fact. And here may be the 
saddest fact of all. Innocent children born into the welfare habit are 
300 percent more likely than others to be on welfare when they grow up.
  We have kids all over this country who grow up in homes where they 
never see an adult in the home go to work. But I refuse to believe that 
we should write off entire generations and consign them forever to 
desperate and unproductive lives.
  As terrible and as horrifying as it is, there are some politicians 
who have a vested interest in perpetuating the current system of 
handouts. This determination to hold people down is sickening, but the 
huge Federal welfare bureaucracy has real political power.
  The architects of the current disgraceful system fight hard to keep 
what they have created, and those who have been complicit in creating 
the cycle of dependence that is our current welfare system simply do 
not want to see any changes at all.
  When those of us who are working for reform propose some initial 
efforts to 
 [[Page H3705]] break the bonds of dependence, we are told to sit down 
and shut up.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, we will not sit down, and we will not shut up. We 
are going to stand up for the hopes of future generations. We are going 
to speak out on behalf of victims of the current system, both 
recipients, yes, and the taxpayers.
  If the only coherent, straightforward argument made against welfare 
reform is the two command words to shut up, then maybe the protectors 
of the present system ought to consider at least getting out of the 
way.
  The intellectual wellspring of the status quo seems to have run dry 
after a torrent of rhetoric and $5 trillion of taxpayer money spent 
over the last 30 years on this ridiculous system of welfare that we 
have. The nay sayers simply have not made the case for protecting a 
bureaucratic Federal welfare system that penalizes work and rewards 
irresponsibility and writes off whole segments of our community.
  So this Congress, I hope, is finally prepared to pass welfare reform. 
This bill is based upon true compassion. It has the work requirement. 
It protects children.
  It seeks to discourage teenage sex and to crack down on deadbeat dads 
who want the Government to take the responsibilities for kids that they 
produce. They ought to own up and pay for these kids themselves. These 
deadbeat dads have been getting off for far too long.
  Our welfare reform eliminates taxpayer-financed subsidy payments for 
drug addicts and alcoholics. We have been paying drug addicts and 
alcoholics welfare benefits and SSI benefits. It is disgraceful.
  Importantly, it ends discrimination in adoption.
  It is time for welfare reform. It is long overdue. We are finally 
going to pass this tomorrow.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Mfume] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  [Mr. MFUME addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter in 
the Extensions of Remarks.]


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