[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 117 (Monday, September 8, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SARAH GEVING: A STORY OF WORK, FAMILY, AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

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                     HON. RANDY ``DUKE'' CUNNINGHAM

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 8, 1997

  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, Sarah Geving, a constituent of 
California's 51st Congressional District, has written a personal 
account about growing up on welfare. Her real-life story shows how the 
old welfare system encouraged complacency, bred hopelessness, and 
trapped many families in a cycle of welfare dependency. Sarah's 
experience taught her that the best way to break free of the welfare 
trap was not to give people a handout, but to give them a hand up.
  Our new welfare reform law does that. It encourages work, family, and 
personal responsibility, giving people hope and a better chance at the 
American dream. I am proud to have played a part in reforming the 
failed welfare system and to share Sarah's story with my colleagues by 
entering it into the permanent Record of the Congress of the United 
States:

                       An American Success Story

                           (By Sarah Geving)

       My parents got divorced when I was four years old and we 
     went on welfare shortly after that. We were on welfare for 
     the next eight years. Why did we continue to receive hand-
     outs from the government for nearly a decade? Because the 
     government kept sending them. Was my mom physically disabled 
     during this time? No, or she would have been on physician 
     ordered ``disability.'' And long-term disability at that! The 
     U.S. government enabled my mother to stay home for eight 
     years.
       My mom dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade. Do 
     you think that during the years the government ``helped'' to 
     take care of us, they encouraged my mom to go back and get 
     her G.E.D.? No. Did they encourage her to attend technical 
     schools so that she would be prepared to enter the job 
     market? No. They should have at least required her to go back 
     and finish high school or get her G.E.D.
       When my mom decided to get a job, of course she was totally 
     unprepared in terms of skills, so she had to take a minimum 
     wage job. With welfare reform, we must teach people to 
     progress. Education should be encouraged so that families are 
     not struggling for food as we were. This does not mean that I 
     think we should be working to raise minimum wage. I do not. 
     We should be encouraging work, education, and the spirit of 
     volunteerism. Since my family was so poor even when my mom 
     went back to work, we relied on church donations, donations 
     from anonymous people, and when all else failed, we stood in 
     line for food. As demeaning as this was, we did eat. 
     Americans are generous and the private sector will help with 
     welfare reform. If we encourage hard work and education, 
     children will not have to grow up feeling ashamed like I did. 
     Families who are experiencing hard times and are struggling 
     for food need to be counseled to make better choices. 
     Volunteers should not only help provide food, but they should 
     also help people make better choices. Better choices means 
     that poverty will be temporary, not generational.
       When I stood in line for food it was hurtful emotionally. I 
     was embarrassed. I didn't want my friends at school to know 
     about my true private life. I spent years feeling ashamed. 
     One thing that did help was having a ``Big Brother''. A 
     friend of a friend wanted to volunteer as a big brother. 
     Instead of going through an agency and being hooked up with a 
     young boy, this mutual friend hooked him up with me. He was a 
     good example for me because he worked for a living and he 
     gave me advice about college. He treated me like I was a 
     person. My home life was not good and it was helpful to 
     spend time with someone stable once in awhile. We must 
     encourage ``big brothers'' and ``big sisters''.
       My mom had a lot of problems and often could not take care 
     of us. She could have given us over to the State for awhile. 
     She needed foster homes for us. Instead, her church found 
     temporary homes for us until my mom could take us back. My 
     sister and I think we lived in at least nine different homes. 
     If we had been in State foster care, we probably would not 
     have been able to stay in the same part of town and the same 
     school district. Since stability was always lacking, at least 
     we could stay in the same school. Once again, this 
     illustrates the importance of individuals and the idea of 
     volunteerism.
       If I had gotten pregnant at 17 or 18, the government would 
     have been willing to support me and how ever many children I 
     may have had. I was definitely an ``at risk'' child. I 
     believe that one of the things that saved me was help from 
     people--not the government, but individual people.
       Private enterprise, individual people, and volunteerism 
     will be crucial in implementing welfare reform. Ending 
     welfare as an entitlement program will give everyone hope, 
     especially children like I once was.
       I knew that I needed to go to college. When I was growing 
     up, I worked hard at school. I studied for and took the 
     S.A.T. tests. One thing that I did not plan for was the 
     college application fee. I remember going to see my high 
     school counselor during my senior year of high school. He had 
     often helped me with questions I had about college. I told 
     him, ``Well, it looks like I can't go to USD or any other 4 
     year college like I had planned. We'll have to talk about 
     community colleges or something else.'' He said, ``What 
     changed your mind?'' I told him that I had filled out my 
     application and that at the bottom of the application, there 
     was a statement advising applicants that the application fee 
     was $25.00. There was no way I could come up with that. He 
     didn't say much, but asked me to come back the next day to 
     discuss it further. I did. When I showed up for the 
     appointment, he handed me an envelope and told me to go home 
     and send in my application. After leaving his office, I 
     opened the envelope to see what was inside, and there was 
     $25.00 cash. I didn't think too much about it at the time, 
     although I was thankful. Now that I am older, that incident 
     keeps coming back to me.
       At the time, I guess I assumed that money came out of some 
     school fund. Looking back on it, I think it probably came 
     from his own pocket. On my current list of ``things to do'' 
     is to hunt him down and pay him back. He would probably be 
     happy to know that I did go to and graduate from college. 
     This is a great example of people helping people. This is 
     what welfare reform is all about.
       As a society, it is our duty to teach people to take care 
     of themselves. The government should not do for individuals 
     what they are capable of doing for themselves. When the 
     founders of our country first came to America, they came 
     knowing they would work hard. We need to return to those 
     values.
       I have learned this. If you remain fixed in purpose, and 
     strive to achieve your goals, you will succeed in this 
     country. We live in a great country. If I had been born in 
     India and into the caste system, I would still be poor today. 
     If I had been born in a Third-world country, such as Panama 
     or Mexico, I would still be poor today. This country was 
     founded on the principles of hard work. Hard work made this 
     country great. This is the land of opportunity.
       Thank you to the elected officials who voted for welfare 
     reform. Thank you to the elected officials who want to return 
     this country back to the idea of smaller government and more 
     personal responsibility.

     

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