[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 1, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4568-S4569]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      WISCONSIN WORKS WELFARE LAW

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, our current welfare system does not work 
because it is not based on the proven American formula for escaping 
poverty: A job. A strong family. A good education. Saving some money to 
buy a home.
  Instead, it undermines almost every value that leads to self-reliance 
and success. Poverty persists and 3 out of every 10 births are out of 
wedlock. Unbelievably, the out-of-wedlock birth rate is 80 percent in 
some communities.
  Within the past year, the U.S. Congress has twice passed Federal 
welfare reform. President Clinton has vetoed it both times. Face it, 
President Clinton has preserved the current system which is trapping 
another generation of Americans in despair and locking them out of the 
American dream.
  Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson refuses to allow this to happen. Last 
Thursday, he signed into law a program replacing in Wisconsin the 
failed national welfare system. It is called Wisconsin Works. The new 
program provides work opportunities and work programs. In order to help 
beneficiaries get a job, it makes available child care and health care 
to all low-income families who need it.
  As Governor Thompson stated:

       After almost a decade of welfare reform experiments, 
     Wisconsin Works represents the end of welfare in Wisconsin. 
     The current aid to families with dependent children [AFDC] 
     program has become, for many families, a way of life. Because 
     the program does not require work or provide incentives to 
     become self-sufficient, it has trapped many families in 
     dependency. Wisconsin Works aims to rebuild the connection 
     between work and income and help families achieve self-
     sufficiency.

  Due to his experience, Governor Thompson knows what he is talking 
about. He has made welfare reform a top priority by introducing more 
than 10 reform initiatives and by working hard to fix the current 
Welfare-to-Work Program called JOBS. During his administration 
Wisconsin's AFDC caseload has been reduced by more than 27 percent.
  Wisconsin Works is the good news. Now let me give you the bad. The 
Governor and the Wisconsin Legislature cannot deliver to the people of 
Wisconsin this replacement for the failed system until President 
Clinton and his administration give them permission. By twice vetoing 
Federal welfare reform passed by our Congress, the President has denied 
Wisconsin and many other States the opportunity to put into place 
needed reforms.
  The status quo, which the President has preserved, requires Wisconsin 
to come to the Clinton administration on bended knee to ask Washington 
bureaucrats for permission to make adjustments to the current one-size-
fits-all national welfare system.
  No doubt about it, while welfare recipients remain trapped in the 
current system, President Clinton will claim he has helped reform 
welfare by granting States permission to experiment through controlled 
demonstration programs known as ``waivers.''
  The reality is these waivers are not the solution. We all know 
waivers have brought us in the right direction. However, the waiver 
process perpetuates a flawed system. Real change will only occur when 
States are released from the burden of excessive Federal rules and 
regulations. The waiver process is too costly, time consuming, and 
burdensome, often requiring months and months of negotiating between a 
State and the relevant Federal Cabinet agency
  Earlier this year, all 50 of the Nation's Governors rejected the 
waiver process in favor of comprehensive welfare reform. Their 
unanimously adopted policy would provide greater State flexibility to 
enhance States as ``laboratories of democracy'' while ensuring the 
necessary State accountability to promote work, family, and individual 
self-sufficiency among welfare beneficiaries.
  The national bipartisan Governor's welfare policy reflects the 
principles contained in both welfare reform bills passed by the 
Congress and vetoed by the President. I remain committed to working 
with our Nation's Governors to accomplish real Federal welfare reform.
  President Clinton has said that he is reluctant to return power to 
the States because it will lead to a ``race to the bottom.'' As 
Governor Thompson and the Wisconsin Legislature have proved, however, 
compassion and innovation can go hand in hand. I congratulate them for 
their achievement, and I invite President Clinton to join with this 
Congress in moving power out of Washington and returning it to where it 
belongs--our States, our communities, and our people.

[[Page S4569]]



        UNITED STATES LOSES FIRST WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION CASE

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, the World Trade Organization has just issued 
its first decision in a trade case brought under the new dispute 
settlement system.
  The case was brought against the United States by Venezuela and 
Brazil. The allegation was that a U.S. environmental regulation, issued 
under the Clean Air Act, discriminated against imported gasoline.
  On Monday, the United States lost the case. President Clinton must 
now decide whether to comply with the WTO decision. If he decides the 
United States should comply, he must announce a plan for doing so.
  I believe the American people deserve an explanation from President 
Clinton about this case. They deserve an explanation about what this 
case might mean in the future for other U.S. laws and regulations.
  Clearly there will be future WTO cases where the United States will 
be the losing party. We cannot expect to win every case. Perhaps 
Monday's case was properly decided.
  But it seems to me that our laws should continue to be a matter for 
Americans, not international judges, to determine. We should decide 
what our environmental laws will be. We should decide what kinds of 
regulations are necessary to protect our environment. We should decide 
that our children deserve cleaner air and purer water, not some 
bureaucrat in Geneva.
  We do not always agree, and that is part of our democratic process. 
But at least we work out for ourselves what laws and regulations are 
best for America.
  Mr. President, I believe President Clinton has simply failed to tell 
the American people what his strategy is for defending other American 
laws in the future from potential wrongful attack in the WTO. As far as 
I know, President Clinton has been silent on this question, one that is 
deeply troubling to many Americans.
  I have a strategy for defending American laws. I proposed a plan in 
January 1995 that would ensure that the United States could withdraw 
from the WTO if our laws, and our rights, were being trampled in 
Geneva.
  Many, many Americans shared my concern--that the WTO might begin to 
operate out of control, might begin to issue rulings that were outside 
its mandate, in short, that the WTO might abuse its authority. I was 
concerned that if this were to happen, the United States would not have 
any adequate mechanism to deal with it. My proposal creates such a 
mechanism. It allows us to get all the benefits of the WTO, but 
protects us against the potential harm should the WTO fail to honor our 
rights.
  Unfortunately, my proposal has not yet become law because of some 
opposition--not much. There is strong bipartisan support for this 
proposal, but one of my colleagues on the other side has had a hold on 
this bill several months, and we hope to move on it early this month or 
next month.
  President Clinton supports my proposal. In fact, he endorsed my 
proposal when I endorsed the GATT at the White House nearly 2 years 
ago. I certainly would appreciate the President's help in getting this 
measure passed. I think it would be helpful to the President and to the 
country. It would answer a lot of concerns American workers have who 
are frustrated about the loss of American jobs.
  So I hope we can have action on my proposal in the very near future 
with the President's support.

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