[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 120 (Thursday, September 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1539-E1540]
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. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 31, 1996

  Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3734, the 
Balanced Budget Reconciliation/Welfare Reform Act. We must set forth a 
vision for our country. We want an America that gives all Americans the 
chance to live out their dreams and achieve their God-given potential. 
We want an America that is still the world's strongest force for peace 
and freedom. And we want an America that comes together around our 
enduring values instead of drifting apart.
  For the past 4 years, President Clinton and the Democrats in Congress 
have worked for a responsible, commonsense agenda to revitalize core 
American values: work, personal responsibility, opportunity, and a 
stronger family and community life for everyone. We are on the right 
track, and we must make sure the country continues moving toward an 
economically secure, militarily strong, more compassionate, and a more 
fiscally responsible future.
  Our country is at a historic crossroads. We can go to the left and 
return to an irresponsible non-sense agenda that is antiwork, 
antiopportuntiy, antifamily and that breeds insecurity, dependency, and 
despair. We can go to the right and abruptly and cynically abandon our 
commitment to a safety net for children, seniors, and the disabled. Or 
we can go straight ahead, following the leadership of President 
Clinton--each of us, individually and all of us collectively as a 
Nation--in the direction of prudence and responsibility.
  Welfare reform is a monumental example. While there are those who 
fear that going forward to implement welfare reform will destroy the 
safety net of security for poor children, seniors, and the disabled, I 
believe that not to go forward would cause us to aimlessly drift 
farther away from the core American values of work, personal 
responsibility, opportunity, stronger families and communities. By 
going forward with welfare reform, we are ridding ourselves of a system 
that does not conform to our Nation's guiding principles and replacing 
it with a new system which will provide the essential tools recipients 
need to move from welfare to work.
  This is the beginning of a process that can transform welfare into an 
opportunity rather than a way of life.
  It is about giving a hand-up rather than a hand-out.
  It is about requiring and rewarding work while providing access to 
job skills and expanded job opportunities.
  It is about providing essential child care and health care to give 
working families a sense of security about the well-being of their 
children.
  It is about cracking down on deadbeat parents and those who abuse the 
system--but not on innocent children.
  It is about creating a welfare system that makes sense.
  This means a system that maintains a fair, efficient, and responsible 
safety net for individuals and families in critical need and one

[[Page E1540]]

which empowers people to move out of the shadows of poverty and into a 
bright new day of productivity and hope.
  As one who has worked on welfare reform for many years--first in the 
Georgia General Assembly, where I helped write the PEACH (Positive 
Employment and Community Help) program, our State's innovative welfare-
to-work plan. And now in Congress--I know how challenging changing the 
status quo can be.
  The proposals originally pushed by Republicans were too weak on work 
and too tough on children and families. They would have block granted 
and drastically underfunded the food stamp and school lunch programs; 
denied Medicaid to our most vulnerable citizens; and would have failed 
to provide adequate funding for work programs and child care.
  With the strong leadership and perseverance of President Clinton and 
congressional Democrats, we fought them. And we succeeded. When faced 
with the realization that Americans want a system that promotes work 
and responsibility but not the mean-spirited proposals they were 
pushing, the Republicans conceded.
  The law we finally enacted is certainly not perfect. It goes too far 
in cutting nutritional assistance and cuts off aid to legal immigrants 
who have worked hard and paid taxes. It has its shortcomings and 
uncertainties. These we must resolve and correct. I plan to work with 
the President and the Members of this body to do just that.
  Passing this legislation is not enough. We must now make sure all 
Americans have the skills they need to get jobs. We must now make sure 
that jobs are available so all Americans can go to work. We must now 
make sure that all Americans are empowered with the tools they need to 
help themselves to realize their dreams and achieve their God-given 
potential. We must ensure that the American value of personal 
responsibility as embodied in this bill will not be a stumbling block 
but a stepping-stone to a better quality of life for all Americans.
  Again, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.