[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 16, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H7538-H7539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        WE NEED COMMONSENSE REFORM OF THE FAILED WELFARE SYSTEM

  (Mr. HOKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HOKE. Mr. Speaker, according to the Department of Commerce, about 
50 percent of all unwed teenage mothers go on welfare within 1 year 
after giving birth to their first child. More than 75 percent go on 
welfare within 5 years.
  Mr. Speaker, it is almost impossible to disentangle illegitimacy from 
welfare. They are interrelated to a degree that is undeniable. Welfare, 
instead of helping people, encourages a value system that distorts the 
work ethic, destroys family, enables and encourages illegitimacy, and 
entraps people in a cycle of dependency. In fact, the qualifications 
for welfare in many instances are just that: One, do not get a job; and 
two, do not get married.
  Since liberals started the war on poverty in the 1960's, the number 
and the percentage of out-of-wedlock births has skyrocketed. The rise 
of the welfare state has coincided with widespread family breakdown. Is 
it really just a coincidence?
  Mr. Speaker, we need to restore the work ethic. We need to strengthen 
families and we need to instill the positive values of personal 
responsibility and

[[Page H7539]]

work. simply put, we need serious commonsense reform of the failed 
welfare system.

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