[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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