[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 22, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E856-E858]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE CLAY COUNTY VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT

                                 ______


                            HON. BART GORDON

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 21, 1996

  Mr. GORDON. Mr. Speaker, I am taking this opportunity to applaud the 
invaluable services provided by the Clay County Volunteer Fire 
Department. These brave, civic-minded people give freely of their time 
so that we may all feel safer at night.
  Few realize the depth of training and hard work that goes into being 
a volunteer firefighter. To quote one of my local volunteers, ``These 
firemen must have an overwhelming desire to do for others while 
expecting nothing in return.''
  Preparation includes twice-monthly training programs in which they 
have live drills, study the latest videos featuring the latest in 
firefighting tactics, as well as attend seminars where they can obtain 
the knowledge they need to save lives. Within a year of becoming a 
volunteer firefighter, most attend the Tennessee fire training school 
in Murfreesboro where they undergo further, intensified training.
  When the residents of my district go to bed at night, they know that 
should disaster strike and their home catch fire, well-trained and 
qualified volunteer fire departments are ready and willing to give so 
graciously and generously of themselves. This peace of mind should not 
be taken for granted.
  By selflessly giving of themselves, they ensure a safer future for us 
all. We owe these volunteer fire departments a debt of gratitude for 
their service and sacrifice.

[[Page E857]]



                     SUPPORTING TRUE WELFARE REFORM

                                 ______


                         HON. E. CLAY SHAW, JR.

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 21, 1996

  Mr. SHAW, Mr. Speaker. I would like to bring to the attention of my 
colleagues a speech that Senator Bob Dole gave today in Fond Du Lac, WI 
in support of true welfare reform.

       I have come to America's heartland to talk about the heart 
     and soul of our nation.
       I come not as a Senator or as a Majority Leader, but as a 
     man . . . a man who has spent his life in service to America, 
     and to the American ideals of freedom and human dignity, 
     opportunity and personal responsibility.
       I come to speak about an issue which, under the leadership 
     of Governor Tommy Thompson, has risen to the top of the 
     national agenda. That issue, of course, is welfare reform.
       Thirty years ago the ``Great Society'' was liberalism's 
     greatest hope, its greatest boast. Today it stands as its 
     greatest shame, a grand failure that has crushed spirit, 
     destroyed the families and decimated the culture of those who 
     have become enmeshed in its web . . . that has created 
     something we have never had before in this country: a 
     permanent, dependent class robbed of dignity, robbed of hope.
       Five trillion dollars later, all we have is a growing 
     record of catastrophic failure . . . a federal highway paved 
     with good intentions that leads directly into the hellish 
     corners of some of our inner cities.
       In 1964, when the first massive welfare-spending of the 
     Great Society passed Congress, President Johnson proudly 
     declared that it would ``break the cycle of poverty,'' that 
     it would ``give a hand up, not a hand out.''
       The premise of the Great Society was that the basic 
     institutions of American life do not work . . . that the path 
     from poverty to self-sufficiency that so many millions of 
     immigrants and settlers had taken before--and so many 
     millions of newer immigrants would take later--had been 
     closed--and that massive government intervention was the only 
     way to ensure fairness.
       But that liberal premise was patently false.
       Within a few years after the massive social spending of the 
     Great Society got underway, the positive trends of the 50s 
     and early 60s were reversed. Dependency increased. Poverty 
     increased.
       But that doesn't tell the full story. The ``poverty rate'' 
     by itself is too antiseptic a term to evoke the human agony 
     and social wreckage of these good intentions gone awry--the 
     killing compassion of the welfare state.
       We all know the list of horrors:
       Crack babies who start out life from the first day with two 
     strikes against them.
       The plague of illegitimacy in out inner cities, as high as 
     80% in some areas.
       Children giving birth to children who, we know, will be 
     dramatically more susceptible to low birth weight, disease, 
     physical abuse and drug addiction.
       An epidemic of violence the likes of which this country has 
     never seen before, so bad that by 1970 a child raised in our 
     nation's biggest cities was more likely to be killed than an 
     American soldier serving on the battlefield during World War 
     II.
       And the latest phenomenon: police departments in our cities 
     warn of a new generation of ``super predators,'' children 
     growing up in a shattered society riddled with drugs who have 
     no compunction about taking a human life.
       If some enemy of our country wanted to undermine the fabric 
     of American society, it could not inflict anything upon us 
     worse than the welfare system we have inflicted on ourselves.
       Because we are Americans, we are generous of spirit and 
     large of heart. But our hearts must be in the right place. 
     And perpetuating a destructive welfare system under the guise 
     of compassion is not in the spirit of all that made this 
     country great.
       Four years ago, candidate Clinton came to Wisconsin and 
     promised to ``end welfare as we know it.'' As we have seen 
     time and time again, however, the words of candidate Clinton 
     bear no relation to the actions of President Clinton.
       Last year, Congress passed historic welfare reform 
     legislation written in partnership with Tommy Thompson and 
     America's Governors.
       This bill provided maximum state flexibility. For the first 
     time, it converted welfare into a work program, limiting 
     lifetime welfare benefits to five years. It gave the states 
     the tools and the incentive to combat out of wedlock births. 
     And it would have saved America's taxpayers about $60 billion 
     over the next seven years.
       When faced with the choice of enacting those reforms, or 
     ensuring the survival of the tragic status quo, President 
     Clinton chose the status quo. Apparently, he had no qualms in 
     denying the American dream to another generation.
       Republicans didn't give up, and spurred on by America's 
     governors, we gave President Clinton a second chance. And 
     guess what? He vetoed welfare reform once again.
       Let me be as clear as I can. As President, my actions will 
     match my words. As President, I will send real and meaningful 
     welfare reform legislation to Congress early next year. I 
     will insist on its swift passage. And I will sign it. And 
     when I say ``real'' welfare reform:
       I mean requiring every able-bodied welfare recipient to 
     find work within two years--or a shorter period of time if 
     the state so desires. President Clinton's plan means no real 
     work requirement until after the next century.
       I mean giving states the ability to stop payments to 
     unmarried teens. President Clinton's plan avoids this tough 
     choice.
       I mean a five-year lifetime limit on welfare payments with 
     few exceptions. President Clinton's plan means no real limits 
     and no real change.
       I mean making certain that illegal noncitizens are 
     ineligible for all but emergency benefits. President 
     Clinton's plan, once again, avoids this tough decision.
       And above all, I mean trusting the nation's governors with 
     the flexibility they need to establish the laboratories of 
     our democracy. President Clinton's plan means trusting only 
     federal bureaucrats in Washington.
       As you know, the White House spin machine has been in 
     overdrive this weekend, when, after years of resisting every 
     attempt to end America's horrible welfare system--President 
     Clinton endorsed Governor Thompson's welfare reform package, 
     which needs federal waivers to become law.
       I hope this time the President means what he says. But I am 
     sorry to say that, in another attempt to have it both ways, 
     Mr. Clinton endorsed the Thompson program but did not 
     actually say he would grant the waiver. In fact, according to 
     a story in today's Washington Post, the White House is 
     backpedaling again. The story cites White House aide Harold 
     Ickes as saying that the details of the Wisconsin plan ``will 
     have to be negotiated'' and that some of these ``details will 
     be changed'' before the federal government grants the 
     necessary waivers. This, of course, is no surprise. Every 
     time that it's had the opportunity in other states, the 
     Clinton administration has blocked firm time-limits on 
     welfare, the heart of the Wisconsin plan and of any serious 
     plan to end welfare as we know it.
       The White House has trumpeted the President's actions this 
     weekend as proof of his commitment to welfare reform. In 
     reality, however, it is proof of the President's belief that 
     fixing welfare is a job best handled from Washington, D.C.
       As any of our 50 Governors can tell you, Wisconsin is just 
     one of the many states who have to play the ``waiver game.'' 
     trekking to Washington, hats in hand, to beg for approval to 
     fix a failed system. Waiver applications often run for over 
     100 pages, and turn-around time is measured in years, not 
     days.
       As a matter of fact, there are currently 27 other welfare 
     waivers in 18 states currently awaiting the President's 
     approval. Some of these applications have been pending since 
     1994, and the average delay on each of them is 210 days.
       If the President is serious about welfare reform, then he 
     will do the following. He will sign California's waiver 
     today. He will sign Florida's waiver today. And while he's 
     got his pen in this hand, he will sign the waivers of 
     Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, 
     Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, 
     Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah.
       But even if the President does sign these waivers--and he 
     won't--the bottom line is that we cannot reform welfare one 
     waiver at a time. Such response is too little, too late, for 
     the families trapped in a failed system.
       In a Dole Administration, no state will have to play the 
     waiver game. Washington does not have all the answers. The 
     federal role should be limited and should include oversight 
     to make sure the states can meet the needs of the poor. But 
     problems are best solved at the local level. In a Dole 
     Administration, the states will be free to do what's right.
       And one thing that's right is addressing the national 
     epidemic of illegitimate births. As we all know, illegitimacy 
     is what perpetuates the cycle of poverty from generation to 
     generation. And too often it turns out that the baby born on 
     welfare belongs to a girl who is herself almost a baby and 
     who was born on welfare.
       But we are just beginning to recognize that perhaps half of 
     the fathers of those babies are grown men, 20 years old or 
     over. In other words, a central feature of the plague of 
     illegitimacy is older men preying on young girls.
       Just as in the absence of Presidential leadership the 
     nation's governors have taken the lead in reforming welfare 
     in America, today let me urge the nation's governors: take 
     one more step. Enforce the statutory rape laws you already 
     have on your books. Make them stronger where need be. But 
     enforce them to the fullest. Solving the welfare problem must 
     include ending the epidemic of male sexual predators.
       A Dole Administration will also recognize that it's 
     absolutely right for states to sanction welfare recipients 
     who test positive for drugs. According to a Columbia 
     University Report, mothers receiving Aid to Families with 
     Dependent Children are nearly three times as likely to abuse 
     alcohol and illegal drugs as mothers who aren't.
       As many as ten percent of all babies born in America are 
     exposed to cocaine or crack in the womb. That same Columbia 
     University Report estimates that as many as 200,000

[[Page E858]]

     drug exposed babies are born annually to mothers on AFDC.
       Basic compassion and common sense dictate that the 
     government must stop being the ``enabler'' of those who abuse 
     drugs. Senator Christopher Bond of Missouri has pointed out 
     that some welfare recipients who are turned down for 
     employment because they flunk an employer's drug test, 
     then turn around and use the results as proof they are 
     actually seeking employment and deserve to remain on 
     welfare. The states should have the right to require drug 
     testing, and to deny on their face claims like the one 
     Senator Bond discussed. States should also have the right 
     to adopt innovations such as providing welfare recipients 
     with vouchers for diapers or baby formula in place of cash 
     payments which might be used to purchase drugs or alcohol.
       It is also right for the state and federal governments to 
     step out of the surrogate parent role and ask people to take 
     personal responsibility for their lives. Each year, America 
     fails to collect $34 billion of child support payments. This 
     money often means the difference between living on welfare 
     dependence or living independently. A Dole Administration 
     will work with the states to put teeth in child support laws 
     so that deadbeat parents live up to their obligations. We 
     will establish a uniform tracking system, automate child 
     support proceedings in every state, require that every effort 
     be made to establish paternity, and do everything possible to 
     ensure that child support payments go to those who deserve 
     them.
       The ultimate issue at stake in serious welfare reform is 
     not just dollars and cents but compassion. It's not 
     compassionate to lead people into a life of drugs, dependency 
     and despair. Real compassion must sometimes take the form of 
     tough love. It's time to get people out of the destructive 
     lifestyle of welfare once and for all. Children having 
     children should stay at home and stay in school.
       My friends, we know what happened this weekend. When Bill 
     Clinton hears I am coming to Wisconsin to talk about welfare 
     reform, he suddenly decides he supports what Governor 
     Thompson has done.
       If this keeps up Bill Clinton won't have to make speeches 
     anymore. All he'll have to do is find out my stand on an 
     issue and say, ``Me, too.''
       But too often President Clinton's statements are like the 
     tornadoes in the movie ``Twister''--it looks like a lot is 
     happening, but in reality it's all just special effects.
       Still I have to say that America benefits from the 
     calculated cynicism of Mr. Clinton and his advisors. Because 
     in this election year he is agreeing to things we will never 
     see him agree to again.
       We all know it would be different if Bill Clinton were to 
     somehow win re-election--his liberalism unrestrained by the 
     need to face the American people again. Instead of trying to 
     preempt Republican initiatives, he will do what comes 
     naturally--raising our taxes again, blocking education 
     reform, imposing more social experiments on our military, 
     mandating more regulations, appointing more permissive judges 
     and the rest of his sorry grab bag of liberal policies.
       The press says it's working, but, to paraphrase Harry 
     Truman, given a choice between a Republican and a Democrat 
     who tries to act like a Republican, the American people will 
     choose the real thing every time.
       Ladies and gentlemen, we don't need four more years of 
     broken promises. We need a President who will sign genuine 
     welfare reform.
       It's time for Presidential leadership that says what it 
     means and means what it says and I will bring such leadership 
     to the White House.
       If we are to get America back on the right track, we need a 
     leader who will confront the failures of big government 
     honestly and forthrightly . . . who has the integrity to face 
     difficult truths without fear, without waffling . . . who is 
     not the rear-guard of big government, but who means it when 
     he says that ``the era of big government is over.''
       In the final analysis, the debate about welfare reform is 
     all about a very basic issue of values . . . what we believe 
     America has been, is and must remain . . . a nation of 
     freedom, where the doors of opportunity are open to all, 
     where our government respects the values on which families, 
     neighborhoods and communities are built, where it holds 
     proudly for all the world to see the torch of freedom that 
     makes us the last best hope of humanity.
       To preserve, protect and defend these values, to ensure 
     that America's future is even greater than its past, to make 
     that torch of liberty shine even brighter--this is why I want 
     to be the President of the United States. Please, join me in 
     this crusade.
       Thank you and God bless you all.

                          ____________________