[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 18, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10868-S10869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     EVOLUTION OF A PLATFORM PLANK

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I would like to make a few, brief 
comments about the evolution of the welfare plank in the Democratic 
Party's national platform for the coming election.


                          July 8: First Draft

  Staff members of the Democratic National Committee wrote the initial 
draft of the party platform. The document was dated July 8, 1996, and 
contained the following plank on welfare:

       Welfare Reform. There is no greater gap between mainstream 
     American values and modern American government than our 
     failed welfare system. When Bill Clinton became President, 
     the welfare system undermined the very values--work, family, 
     and, especially, personal responsibility--that it should 
     promote. Over the past four years, President Clinton--without 
     help from Congress--has dramatically transformed the welfare 
     system. He has freed 40 states from federal rules and 
     regulations so they can reform their welfare systems. The 
     Clinton Administration has granted [70] waivers--more than 
     twice as many waivers as granted in the Reagan-Bush years. 
     For 75 percent of all Americans on welfare, the rules have 
     changed for good, and welfare is becoming what it should be: 
     a second chance, not a way of life. Welfare rolls are finally 
     coming down--there are 1.3 million fewer people on welfare 
     today than there were in 1992.
       The President has also taken strong executive action to 
     make sure that the welfare system strengthens families and 
     demands responsibility. He ordered states to require minor 
     mothers to stay in school and turn their lives around so they 
     can get a job and get off welfare for good. He also ordered 
     states to require mothers to name the father of their 
     children before they can get welfare, so we can find those 
     fathers and make them pay the child support they owe.
       Now we must finish the job. We should pass national welfare 
     reform to end welfare as we know it across America. 
     Unfortunately, the plan proposed by Senator Dole and Speaker 
     Gingrich was weak on work and tough on children. That's the 
     wrong approach. We should be tough on work and demand 
     responsibility, but we shouldn't punish children for their 
     parents' mistakes. A real bipartisan welfare reform plan 
     should require that anyone on welfare who can work, goes to 
     work. And we should provide child care and health care so 
     parents can work. We should impose strict time limits so that 
     no one who can work can stay on welfare forever. We should 
     require minor mothers to live with their parents or another 
     responsible adult.


          July 26: Initial Draft Revised by Drafting Committee

  The initial draft was sent to members of the drafting committee, 
chaired by Georgia Gov. Zell Miller. The 15 members of the drafting 
committee met on July 11 in Kansas City to revise the initial draft. On 
July 26, the drafting committee issued its revised draft of the 
platform and sent it to the members of the platform committee. The 
revised welfare plank was slightly longer, but contained essentially 
the same language as the first version:

       Welfare reform. Today's Democratic Party knows there is no 
     greater gap between mainstream American values and modern 
     American government than our failed welfare system. When Bill 
     Clinton became President, the welfare system undermined the 
     very values--work, family, and personal responsibility--that 
     it should promote. The welfare system should reflect those 
     values: we want to help people who want to help themselves 
     and their children.
       Over the past 4 years, President Clinton--acting alone--has 
     dramatically transformed the welfare system. He has freed 41 
     states from federal rules and regulations so they

[[Page S10869]]

     can reform their welfare systems. The Clinton Administration 
     has granted 69 waivers--more than twice as many waivers as 
     granted in the Reagan-Bush years. For 75 percent of all 
     Americans on welfare, the rules have changed for good 
     already, and welfare is becoming what it should be: a second 
     chance, not a way of life. Welfare rolls are finally coming 
     down--there are 1.3 million fewer people on welfare today 
     than there were when President Clinton took office in January 
     1993.
       The President has also taken strong executive action to 
     make sure that the welfare system strengthens families and 
     demands responsibility. He ordered states to require minor 
     mothers to stay in school and turn their lives around so they 
     can get a job and get off welfare for good. He also directed 
     states to require mothers to help identify and find absent 
     fathers so we can make them pay the child support they owe. 
     He challenged all states to require teen mothers to live at 
     home or with a responsible adult. And the President fought to 
     make sure that poor children get health care and nutrition to 
     meet their basic needs.
       Now we must finish the job, and pass national welfare 
     reform. Unfortunately, the plan proposed by Senator Dole and 
     Speaker Gingrich was weak on work and tough on children. That 
     is the wrong approach. We should be tough on work and demand 
     responsibility, but we should not punish children for their 
     parents' mistakes. A real bipartisan welfare reform plan 
     should require that, anyone on welfare who can work, goes to 
     work. And we should provide child care and health care so 
     parents can work. We should impose strict time limits so that 
     no one who can work can stay on welfare forever. We should 
     require minor mothers to live with their parents or another 
     responsible adult. If the Republican Party puts politics 
     aside, we can finish the job President Clinton started, and 
     end welfare as we know it across America. Passing legislation 
     is not enough; we should make sure people get the skills they 
     need to get jobs, and that there are jobs for them to go to 
     so they leave welfare and stay off. Welfare reform should put 
     more people to work and move them into the economic 
     mainstream, not take jobs away from working families.


              July 31-August 4: DNC Staff Change Platform

  The President announced on July 31 that he would sign the Dole-
Gingrich welfare plan into law--which he did on August 22. Democratic 
National Committee staff thereupon revised the platform plank on 
welfare to reflect the President's newly announced intentions. The 
platform plank on welfare, which previously denounced the legislation 
Congress had passed, now endorsed it.


                    August 5: Final Platform Issued

  The full platform committee met in Pittsburgh, PA on August 5 and 
approved the changes to the Kansas City draft. The new platform plank 
on welfare, as changed by DNC staff, was nearly identical to the final 
version approved by the convention delegates in Chicago on August 27 
with the exception of one sentence noted below which was formally added 
as an amendment during the Pittsburgh session. The new plank reads as 
follows:

       Welfare reform. Today's Democratic Party knows there is no 
     greater gap between mainstream American values and modern 
     American government than our failed welfare system. When Bill 
     Clinton became President, the welfare system undermined the 
     very values--work, family, and personal responsibility--that 
     it should promote. The welfare system should reflect those 
     values: we want to help people who want to help themselves 
     and their children.
       Over the past 4 years, President Clinton has dramatically 
     transformed the welfare system. He has freed 41 states from 
     federal rules and regulations so they can reform their 
     welfare systems. The Clinton Administration has granted 69 
     waivers--more than twice as many waivers as granted in the 
     Reagan-Bush years. For 75 percent of all Americans on 
     welfare, the rules have changed for good already, and 
     welfare is becoming what it should be: a second chance, 
     not a way of life. Welfare rolls are finally coming down 
     --there are 1.3 million fewer people on welfare today than 
     there were when President Clinton took office in January 
     1993.
       Now, because of the President's leadership and with the 
     support of a majority of the Democrats in Congress, national 
     welfare reform is going to make work and responsibility the 
     law of the land. Thanks to President Clinton and the 
     Democrats, the new welfare bill includes the health care and 
     child care people need so they can go to work confident their 
     children will be cared for. Thanks to President Clinton and 
     the Democrats, the new welfare bill imposes time limits and 
     real work requirements--so anyone who can work, does work, 
     and so that no one who can work can stay on welfare forever. 
     Thanks to President Clinton and the Democrats, the new 
     welfare bill cracks down on deadbeat parents and requires 
     minor mothers to live at home with their parents or with 
     another responsible adult.
       We are proud the President forced Congressional Republicans 
     to abandon their wrong-headed and mean-spirited efforts to 
     punish the poor. Republicans wanted to eliminate the 
     guarantee of health care for the poor, the elderly, and the 
     disabled. They were wrong, and we stopped them. Republicans 
     wanted to destroy the food stamp and school lunch programs 
     that provide basic nutrition to millions of working families 
     and poor children. They were wrong, and we stopped them. 
     Republicans wanted to gut child abuse prevention and foster 
     care. They were wrong, and we stopped them. Republicans 
     wanted to cut off young, unwed mothers--because they actually 
     thought their children would be better off living in an 
     orphanage. They were dead wrong, and we stopped them. The 
     bill Republicans in Congress passed last year was values-
     backward--it was soft on work and tough on children, and we 
     applaud the President for stopping it.
       We know the new bill passed by Congress is far from 
     perfect--parts of it should be fixed because they go too far 
     and have nothing to do with welfare reform. First, 
     Republicans cut too far into nutritional assistance for 
     working families with children; we are committed to 
     correcting that. Second, Republicans insisted on using 
     welfare reform as a vehicle to cut off help to legal 
     immigrants. That was wrong. Legal immigrants work hard, pay 
     their taxes, and serve America. It is wrong to single them 
     out for punishment just because they are immigrants. We 
     pledge to make sure that legal immigrant families with 
     children who fall on hard times through no fault of their own 
     can get help when they need it. And we are committed to 
     continuing the President's efforts to make it easier for 
     legal immigrants who are prepared to accept the 
     responsibilities of citizenship to do so.
       But the new welfare plan gives America an historic chance: 
     to break the cycle of dependency for millions of Americans, 
     and give them a real chance for an independent future. It 
     reflects the principles the President has insisted upon since 
     he started the process that led to welfare reform. Our job 
     now is to make sure this welfare reform plan succeeds, 
     transforming a broken system that holds people down into a 
     working system that lifts people up and gives them a real 
     chance to build a better life.
       States asked for this responsibility--now we have to make 
     sure they shoulder it. We must make sure as many people as 
     possible move from welfare to work. We must make sure that 
     children are protected. In addition to health care and 
     nutritional assistance, states should provide in-kind 
     vouchers to children whose parents have reached the time 
     limit. We challenge states to exempt battered women from time 
     limits and other restrictions. [We challenge states to ensure 
     that hard-earned, federal taxpayer dollars are spent 
     effectively and fraud and abuse are prevented.] (The 
     preceding sentence was added as an amendment to the platform 
     during the Pittsburgh meeting.) We challenge the business 
     community to provide more of the private sector jobs people 
     on welfare need to build good lives and strong families. We 
     know that passing legislation is not enough; we must make 
     sure people get the skills they need to get jobs, and that 
     there are jobs for them to go to so they leave welfare and 
     stay off. We want to make sure welfare reform will put more 
     people to work and move them into the economic mainstream, 
     not take jobs away from working families.
       We call on all Americans to make the most of this 
     opportunity--never to use welfare reform as an excuse to 
     demonize or demean people, but rather as a chance to bring 
     all our people fully into the economic mainstream, to have a 
     chance to share in the prosperity and the promise of American 
     life.

  Following the Pittsburgh meeting, in an August 6 Washington Post 
article by Kevin Merida entitled ``Democrats Play Down Platform 
Differences,'' White House deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes was 
quoted as characterizing disputes over platform planks as ``some fusses 
around the edges,'' and as stating, ``I can't think of any changes of 
consequence since the drafting'' of the platform in Kansas City.
  In an August 29 Washington Post column entitled ``Bathos and 
Nothingness,'' columnist Robert D. Novak wrote, ``The platform's 
denunciation of Republican welfare reform was obediently reversed, with 
neither protest nor debate, once Clinton signed the bill. Nor was the 
change mentioned on the convention floor in the non-debate preceding 
voice-vote approval of the platform. Far from being debated, the 
declaration of party principles was not even explained.'' 
Indeed.

                          ____________________