[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 28, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT OF 1995

                                 ______


                               speech of

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 24, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4) to 
     restore the American family, reduce illegitimacy, control 
     welfare spending and reduce welfare dependence:

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Mink 
substitute to the welfare reform legislation. The Mink plan is a 
straightforward proposal for reform which can effectively accomplish 
what the Republican proposal simply will not do--move welfare families 
from dependency to self-sufficiency through work.
  The emphasis is on the poor finding work and keeping it. Through a 
self-sufficiency plan individualized for each participant in the JOBS 
program, welfare recipients can work to identify their goals and needs 
and achieve them.
  The Mink substitute retains the entitlement status of AFDC, child 
care programs, nutrition programs, and child welfare programs to insure 
that poor families are protected while they try to break out of the 
prison of poverty.
  Most importantly, the Mink plan protects our most valuable resource 
and the innocent victims in the welfare reform debate--our children. It 
does not include requirements to deny benefits to children of teenage 
mothers of children born to families already on AFDC. It provides 
critical resources necessary to obtain a job, such as education, job 
training, and child care.
  The Mink plan also does not discriminate by denying benefits to legal 
immigrants, very few of whom come to the United States seeking public 
assistance.
  Mr. Chairman, the Mink substitute seeks a positive and realistic 
long-term solution to the problem of welfare dependency. I support this 
amendment, and urge my colleagues to do the same.


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