[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 30, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H2010]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HARSH NEW WELFARE LAW

  (Mr. GUTIERREZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, in 93 days a harsh new welfare law will 
wipe out assistance to legal immigrants. Yesterday I told my colleagues 
about one such immigrant from my district. Today let me tell my 
colleagues about another. Her name is Adela.
  If my colleagues voted for welfare reform so they could teach people 
about the importance of hard work, they did not have to bother in 
Adela's case. After coming to the United States, Adela worked for 8 
years in a factory on Chicago's northwest side. In fact, she worked 
well past the age at which most Americans would have called it quits 
and would have retired. But the company moved out of town, closed its 
doors down.
  Adela, now 74 years old and in poor health, has been served notice 
that her years of hard working, playing by the rules and paying taxes 
is not enough. She got her pink slip. Now it is a computer printed form 
letter telling her that her only means of support, Social Security, is 
about to be taken away from her on August 22.
  Do legal immigrants like Adela need to learn the value of hard work? 
No. Congress needs to learn the value of hard-working immigrants who 
have made America what it is today. I suggest to any Member that he 
look back to see what his grandparents look like or great grandparents 
looked like.

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