[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 55 (Friday, March 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    BREAKING THE CYCLE OF DEPENDENCY

  (Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, our current welfare system 
erodes the basic building blocks of our society, discourages work, 
destroys families, and forces reliance on the Government.
  Just since 1989, the welfare rolls have grown 31 percent.
  As President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in 1935, to dole out 
relief is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human 
spirit.
  That is why we are here this week, to break the cycle of dependency 
created by the narcotic of welfare and restore hope and independence to 
millions of Americans. The Republican welfare reform plan would help 
able-bodied people come off welfare with job counseling, job training, 
and job placement.
  It increases funding for school nutrition programs, day care for 
children, and WIC, and lets States decide how best to run their own 
welfare program. It eliminates discriminatory delays in adoption.
  That is sound, compassionate policy, Mr. Speaker. It is time we 
applied the principles of family, work, and self-reliance that built 
our country. The Republican welfare reform plan moves us significantly 
in this direction.
  For the sake of our children and grandchildren, let us reform welfare 
now.


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