[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 116 (Thursday, August 1, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H9708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT, FOR SUPPORTING WELFARE REFORM

  (Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, it's been a 2-year struggle, 
but I welcome President Clinton's support for the bipartisan effort by 
the 104th Congress to save generations of Americans from the poverty 
trap of the failed welfare system.
  These commonsense welfare reforms will end welfare as a way of life.
  These commonsense welfare reforms will ensure that able-bodied 
citizens between the ages of 18 and 50 without children must work in 
order to get welfare benefits.
  These commonsense welfare reforms will help preserve families and 
give them a helping hand to self-sufficiency instead of discouraging 
marriage and encouraging illegitimacy.
  These commonsense welfare reforms will end the tyranny of Washington 
bureaucrats preventing our State Governors from instituting innovative 
programs to help their neediest citizens become self-sufficient.
  Most important, these commonsense welfare reforms will help save 
children, communities, and cities from the horrific cycle of poverty 
and violence which has destroyed so many lives.
  Welfare reform is a victory for all Americans.

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