[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 116 (Thursday, August 1, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1453-E1454]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 3734, PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND WORK 
                 OPPORTUNITY RECONCILIATION ACT OF 1996

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 31, 1996

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Personal 
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act.
  In charting the course of welfare reform, we have come a long way 
since the introduction of welfare reform legislation in the 103d 
Congress. The Congress passed a bill 16 months ago that would have hurt 
children, allowed States to abdicate their responsibility without any 
maintenance of effort requirement, and cut funding for job training, 
child care, child nutrition, and work programs. I voted against the 
original House-passed bill because its cuts were too extreme. The 
bipartisan bill before us today incorporates the improvements of the 
original conference report, the Governors' recommendations, and the 
most critical improvements contained in the castle-tanner bill that I 
helped to draft. For too long families have been discouraged from 
working by our welfare system. Unlike the original bill, the bill 
before us today will help welfare recipients and their children build a 
better future because recipients will be working, equipped with the 
training, and child care they need to be successful.
  I support welfare reform that moves recipients from welfare to work 
and encourages personal responsibility. This legislation does that, 
allowing States to try new approaches that meet the needs of their 
recipients. States are already experimenting with welfare reform. Forty 
States have waivers given by this administration, and the results are 
encouraging.
  In giving leeway and dollars to States, however, we must protect 
children. This legislation does that by maintaining the current child 
welfare and foster care entitlement for children. Previous versions of 
welfare reform had converted this critical safety net into a block 
grant, and I strongly encouraged my colleagues to retain the 
entitlement status of child protective services. This bill also 
contains kinship care language modeled after legislation that I have 
introduced. This language insures that State plans for foster care and 
adoption assistance protect families and use adult relatives as the 
preferred placement for children separated from their parents when such 
relatives meet child protection standards.
  This legislation also includes the original Women's caucus child 
support enforcement provisions. We will soon be able to finally crack 
down on deadbeat parents by enacting penalties with real teeth and 
establishing Federal registries to help track deadbeats.
  This legislation also maintains the link between Medicaid and 
welfare. The children of any family eligible for AFDC as of July 1, 
1996, will remain eligible for Medicaid whether or not their family 
continues to receive welfare benefits, and States may also continue 
Medicaid eligibility for parents who are no longer eligible for AFDC. 
This legislation also provides families with Medicaid coverage for a 
year after they leave welfare for work.
  This legislation does not convert child nutrition programs, the WIC 
Program, or the food

[[Page E1454]]

stamp program into block grants to States, unlike previous welfare 
legislation. Instead of reducing the earned income tax credit as 
previous legislation did, this legislation incorporates the 
administration's recommendations to expand it.
  I have actively urged my colleagues to increase child care funding in 
welfare reform. Following up on a meeting with Department of Health and 
Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, I, along with members of the 
Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, sent a letter to the House 
leadership urging them to provide States with more child care 
resources, to maintain the health and safety standards set by States, 
and to give States the flexibility to allow women with children under 6 
to work 20-hour workweeks. I am pleased that all of these 
recommendations have been included in this legislation. This bill 
directs $20 billion to child care spending over the next 6 years--an 
increase of $3.5 billion in child spending over 6 years. These child 
care funds will allow women to enter the work force and help States to 
meet their work force participation requirements.
  I remain concerned about the food stamp cuts contained in this 
legislation. Last month, I voted against the Kasich amendment that 
added these cuts. I also worry about the restrictive prohibitions on 
benefits for legal immigrants. As this legislation is enacted, I will 
carefully monitor the effects of these provisions with the intent of 
remedying them legislatively if necessary.
  Today's vote marks a historic opportunity to change our welfare 
system so that we move families into work while maintaining a safety 
net to protect our Nation's children. It also marks the willingness of 
this legislative body to incorporate important changes, and I thank my 
colleagues for incorporating many of the changes I have requested.

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