[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 1, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H4306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 WELFARE INVITES COMPARISONS TO SLAVERY

  (Mr. FRANKS of Connecticut asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FRANKS of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, in slavery people worked but 
were not paid. In our current welfare system people do not work but 
they are paid. Neither system can be condoned. It took a Republican 
President, Abraham Lincoln, to end slavery and it appears as though it 
will take a Republican President to end welfare as we know it.
  When President Clinton had a Democrat-controlled Congress, there was 
no welfare bill to vote on. Now that the Republicans control Congress, 
President Clinton has repeatedly vetoed welfare reform.
  But unlike then-Governor Clinton's 12-year failure to do what 48 
other States did easily, pass a State civil rights bill, we should not 
wait on welfare reform. We should not continue to have a system that 
has been like a 20th century version of slavery. Welfare and slavery 
have both provided the basic necessities while leaving their victims 
filled with despair.

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