[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 54 (Tuesday, April 20, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3913-S3914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated.

       POM-35. A resolution adopted by the House of the 
     Legislature of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; to the 
     Committee on Appropriations.

                        House Resolution No. 87

       Whereas, The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
     Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193, 110 Stat. 
     2105) eliminated the state-Federal match system under the 
     AFDC program, replacing it with a new block grant program 
     called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF); and
       Whereas, The TANF program awarded states considerable 
     flexibility to design and finance new programs; and
       Whereas, Under TANF, states receive a fixed amount of 
     Federal money each fiscal year which has already been 
     calculated into future budget considerations; and
       Whereas, The provision approved March 4, 1999, by the 
     Senate Appropriations Committee would prevent states from 
     spending a portion of their TANF grants and would break the 
     welfare reform agreement brokered with the Governors; and
       Whereas, The Appropriations Committee, acting on incomplete 
     data, decided that states will not need $350 million of their 
     welfare grants in the coming years, blocking Pennsylvania 
     from using over $28 million of its welfare dollars before 
     October 2001; and
       Whereas, In Pennsylvania, every dollar of our TANF grant is 
     being reserved for the future needs of welfare families in 
     this Commonwealth; and

[[Page S3914]]

       Whereas, Under a separate program administered by the 
     United States Department of Labor, states appropriated money 
     for the match are required to draw down Welfare-to-Work 
     funds; and
       Whereas, The Welfare-to-Work program is separate from TANF 
     and is focused on employing those with the greatest barriers 
     to self-sufficiency; and
       Whereas, Welfare reform is working in Pennsylvania because 
     we are investing in services that help people move from 
     welfare to work; and
       Whereas, TANF funds are essential to the goals of moving 
     recipients into work; therefore be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives of the 
     Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memorialized the Senate of the 
     United States to honor its welfare reform agreement with the 
     Governors by removing from the supplemental appropriations 
     bill the $350 million offset from the TANF program before the 
     bill goes to the Senate floor; and be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to 
     the presiding officers of the Senate of the United States and 
     to the members of the Senate from Pennsylvania.
                                  ____

       POM-36. A resolution adopted by the House of the 
     Legislature of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; to the 
     Committee on Finance.

                        House Resolution No. 41

       Whereas, In 1994 the states initiated the first lawsuits 
     based on violations of state law by the tobacco industry; and
       Whereas, The states, through leadership and years of 
     commitment to pursuing lawsuits, achieved a comprehensive 
     settlement with the tobacco industry; and
       Whereas, After bearing all of the risks and expenses in the 
     negotiations and litigation necessary to proceed with their 
     lawsuit, a settlement was won by the states without any 
     assistance from the Congress of the United States or the 
     Federal Government; and
       Whereas, On November 23, 1998, the states' Attorneys 
     General and the tobacco companies announced a two-prong 
     agreement focusing on advertising, marketing and lobbying and 
     on monetary payments which the companies will make to the 
     states; and
       Whereas, The states' Attorneys General carefully crafted 
     the tobacco agreement to reflect only state costs; and
       Whereas, Medicaid costs were neither a major issue in 
     negotiating the settlement nor an item mentioned in the final 
     agreement; and
       Whereas, The Federal Government is not entitled to take 
     away from the states any of the funds negotiated on their 
     behalf as a result of state lawsuits; and
       Whereas, The Federal Government can initiate its own 
     lawsuit or settlement with the tobacco industry; and
       Whereas, The states are entitled to all of the funds 
     awarded to them in the tobacco settlement agreement without 
     Federal seizure; therefore be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives of the 
     Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memorialize the Pennsylvania 
     congressional delegation to support and pass legislation 
     protecting the states from Federal seizure of tobacco 
     settlement funds by the Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services of the United States as an overpayment under the 
     Federal Medicaid program by amending section 1903(d)(3) of 
     the Social Security Act (49 Stat. 620, 42 U.S.C. 
     Sec. 1396b(d)(3)), specifically including S. 346 (105TH 
     Congress) and H.R. 351 (105TH Congress); and be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to 
     the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each 
     member of Congress from Pennsylvania.

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