[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 101 (Tuesday, June 20, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8655-S8656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             WELFARE REFORM

  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, let me associate myself with the language 
and the words of my distinguished friend [[Page S 8656]] from 
Louisiana. Having been a Governor, I understand what the Federal 
Government can do to you or for you.
  What we are trying to do now is to dump this problem off onto the 
States. It is the biggest unfunded mandate that I have seen in all the 
time I have been here. Just send the package down there minus 20 or 30 
percent and say we have cut the budget and we sent all our problems to 
the States. The States now can do whatever they want to. And I can see 
a Governor out there having an opportunity to use some of this money 
that would be very politically helpful to him or to her. The welfare 
and the welfare program in the various and sundry States would not be 
helped.
  This is a question that everybody has read. People want welfare 
reform. They want it done sooner than later. But the idea of sooner, of 
just saying we are going to send it all down to the States and we are 
going to cut 20 to 30 percent of the funding and let the States have at 
it, I think, is the wrong attitude.
  We all need to sit down because I think all of us, both Democrat and 
Republican, would like to come up with a reasonable solution to welfare 
reform. If we can do that, that will be, I think, a star in the crown 
of the 104th Congress.
  I urge my colleagues to sit down with us and try to work out 
something that would be acceptable. I think we have a good package. If 
it is passed, I think it would be helpful to the future. There would be 
other good ideas. So let us put them in the same basket.
  I thank the Chair.

                          ____________________