[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 102 (Thursday, July 11, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H7269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               WISCONSIN IS WAITING FOR WAIVER ON WELFARE

  (Mr. KLUG asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KLUG. Mr. Speaker, on May 18, President Clinton went on national 
radio and called Wisconsin Works a solid, bold welfare reform proposal. 
Several days later he repeated the same line in the State of Wisconsin. 
When Governor Thompson submitted Wisconsin's bold welfare program to 
the bureaucrats here in Washington, they said they needed 1 month to 
review it. Guess what. One month expired yesterday, and we are not in 
month No. 2. In Wisconsin we have a rather simple idea. We think you 
should replace welfare with work.
  How much longer will we have to wait for the bureaucrats in 
Washington to give us their stamp of approval to finally put in place 
what the President called a solid, bold welfare reform plan. Am I 
optimistic that the approvals just around the corner will consider this 
fact? There are 28 welfare waiver applications currently pending from 
19 different States, some dating back almost 3 years. Mr. Speaker, how 
long will the State of Wisconsin have to wait? One more month? Three 
more months? One more year? Three more years?
  Mr. Speaker, we should ask the President, where is the waiver 
application the State of Wisconsin needs for its bold welfare reform 
proposal?

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