[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 43 (Wednesday, April 17, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H1389-H1396]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             WELFARE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Brown of South Carolina). Under the 
Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2001, the gentleman from South 
Carolina (Mr. Wilson) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of 
the majority leader.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, over the next couple of 
weeks we will have a very rewarding experience explaining to the 
American people the success of welfare reform by the law that was 
passed in 1996, but also we will have an excellent opportunity to show 
how rewarding the reauthorization will be as proposed by President 
Bush.
  I am a newcomer myself to Congress. I was sworn in 17 weeks ago today 
after a special election on December 18. This follows 17 years that I 
had the privilege to serve in the State Senate of South Carolina. I am 
honored to be on the Welfare Reform Task Force. I was appointed by the 
majority whip, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay). I am on the task 
force to study and promote welfare reform. It is a particular honor for 
me because there are only two freshmen on the task force, myself and 
the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Hart). I am certainly with a 
quality crew serving on that task force.
  My education in the area of social services, I give credit to my 
wife, Roxanne. She served for 14 years on the welfare board in our 
county, the Department of Social Services in Lexington County; and in 
that capacity I learned first hand of the great work of professional 
social workers working with persons who needed financial assistance, 
the problems of elder care and foster care, child care; and I learned 
firsthand that we have got the best people working to promote services 
to the people of our country.

[[Page H1390]]

  Additionally, I have a legislative background in the State Senate of 
South Carolina, and it is very similar to what is going on here in 
Washington, D.C. Back in 1995, I was honored to be the chairman of the 
General Committee of South Carolina in the State Senate. At that time 
people were questioning what the General Committee was. I knew first of 
all it had jurisdiction over the National Guard; and as a member of the 
National Guard, I was happy to serve. But I found out later that 
``general'' meant any specific item or agency that did not pertain to 
specific other committees ended up in the General Committee. That was 
wonderful for me because the Department of Social Services came under 
their jurisdiction.
  So I was in place to work in South Carolina for the development of 
the Family Independence Act, along with David Beasley and our 
lieutenant governor, Bob Peeler; and I also worked with such 
distinguished persons as the gentleman who is the Speaker pro tempore 
tonight, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Brown), who was 
chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means in the House of 
Representatives in South Carolina.
  We were able to put together a very similar welfare bill and 
legislation in South Carolina as has been enacted nationally, and there 
has been a remarkable record of success. The landmark welfare reforms 
of 1996 on the Federal level has focused on moving recipients from 
welfare to workfare. The 1996 reforms replaced guaranteed cash 
assistance with a work requirement. And when I say work, what I am 
talking about are jobs and education, training and giving persons the 
opportunity to be fulfilling citizens in our country. It has meant 
jobs, and it has meant education.
  So when we hear the discussion of welfare reform, that is what we are 
largely discussing. The best characterization that I have read of the 
success of the 1996 bill was in the Carolina Morning News, which is the 
Savannah Morning News edition of the low country of South Carolina for 
Beaufort County, Jasper County, Sun City, for Blufton and Hilton Head 
Island.
  The editorial last month said the 1996 welfare reform bill passed by 
a Republican Congress and signed by President Clinton stands as one of 
the great social policy successes of the last 50 years. It was to the 
cycle of dependency on the dole what the collapse of the Berlin Wall 
was to communism, both literally and symbolically.
  As we over the next couple of weeks discuss welfare reform, it is 
wonderful to really make it personal, and that is by having success 
stories brought to our attention.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon) to 
review several success stories.
  Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding, and I commend him for his leadership on this. He is newly 
elected to the House, and he is doing an outstanding job of bringing 
attention to this very important issue. I first came to this body in 
1994. At that time what I had heard from the constituents in my 
district and people all throughout the State of Florida was what a 
terrible disaster the welfare system was, locking millions of Americans 
in a cycle of poverty that they were literally unable to escape from.
  In the county that I live in, we had chronically 2,500 people on 
welfare. With the passage of welfare reform, that number has been 
reduced to 400 people, an 80 percent reduction. These kinds of 
reductions were seen all over the country. Millions of Americans have 
been able to move successfully from welfare to work.
  Surprisingly, now that we are in the place where we need to 
reauthorize this legislation, there are some Members who want to turn 
the clock back and look at the tremendous success of welfare reform and 
say it was a failure and we need to go back to the old ways. I want to 
talk about a couple of people. The gentleman's point about making this 
personal is important, so I want to talk about two Floridians who made 
the transition.
  Sha-Tee Bonner entered the welfare transition program in October 
1999, and was immediately assigned to Job Search, something that would 
not happen before. She would be locked in welfare. Now under the 
program, the reform program, she is immediately assigned to Job Search. 
In November 1999, she became employed at Hollywood Video and began 
earning enough money to end her cash assistance. Sha-Tee continued to 
work until she received employment at the Dunes Hotel in March 2001 as 
a guest service representative. Since working at the Dunes Hotel, she 
has received pay raises and much praise from her supervisor. In August 
of 2001, Sha-Tee began the criminal justice technology program at 
Pensacola Junior College. Her employer at the Dunes Hotel is willing to 
work around her school schedule because of her outstanding employment 
at the Dunes.
  Mr. Speaker, here is a person who previously had been locked in 
welfare dependency. People are saying she is an outstanding worker. 
Sha-Tee believes that the responsibility of raising two daughters as a 
single parent has made her even more determined to make it through the 
tough times. She believes that self-sufficiency is an ongoing process. 
I agree. During the rough times, Sha-Tee and her two daughters lived 
with her grandmother. Recently, Sha-Tee has moved out to her own 
apartment and has purchased her own transportation. Pensacola's local 
Society for Human Resources Management recently honored Sha-Tee for 
being one of the welfare participants of the year. The award is 
presented to former welfare participants who have been successful in 
transitioning to the work environment.
  Stephanie Paige entered the welfare transition program in April of 
2001 with several barriers to self-sufficiency. She was a 20-year-old 
single mother of one child. She had already earned her GED, but had no 
vocational or college education. She was fortunate enough to have a 
car, but no insurance. In addition, she had several medical problems, 
one of which required her to undergo surgery in July 2000. Also in that 
same month, her 4-year-old son had surgery.
  The Jobs Plus One-Stop staff in Crestview assisted Stephanie in 
developing a career plan that would allow her to achieve self-
sufficiency for herself and her child. With guidance and support, the 
One-Stop staff were able to offer her financial assistance through 
supportive service funds to get the initial insurance set up for her 
car, after which she has been able to maintain the monthly premium. 
They were also able to help her purchase appropriate clothing for job 
placement.
  Stephanie was initially placed in a community service work site so 
she could gain job skills. She worked at the Salvation Army in 
Crestview, Florida, from June through December of 2001. Her work site 
supervisor was very pleased with her and reported she was a hard 
worker. Here we go again. Someone who had previously been locked in 
poverty is now being described as a hard worker. It has been in those 
people over the years; we just never had a system that unlocked it.
  In November, while voluntarily continuing to put in hours at the work 
site, she also enrolled in a CNA class at Crestview Nursing Home. 
Between August and September 2001, Stephanie earned a total of $225 in 
incentive payments for her performance and progress. On December 1, 
Stephanie passed her CNA exam, and 4 days later she obtained employment 
with Parthenon Healthcare of Crestview, earning $6.25 per hour. Her 
temporary cash assistance was closed on January 1, 2002, because her 
income was high enough that she no longer needed cash assistance. She 
receives transitional services in the form of subsidized child care and 
transportation assistance that allows her to maintain her employment.

                              {time}  1845

  Stephanie continues to enjoy her work and has plans to pursue a 
nursing career.
  Mr. Speaker, these are two human beings that have been converted over 
from being dependent on a failed and broken system to being self-
sufficient. Most importantly, more important than anything else, more 
important than the tax money that is saved is these women are setting 
an example for their children that there is a value to work, there is a 
dignity and pride that comes with it. For those reasons, I strongly 
support reauthorizing our welfare reform package with no watering down 
amendments that would turn the clock back.

[[Page H1391]]

  I again applaud the gentleman from South Carolina for his leadership 
on this very important issue.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. We certainly appreciate the gentleman 
from Florida's hard work for the people of Florida, a proven story of 
success in yourself.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the most beneficial acts that you can have as you 
serve in the State legislatures is to travel around the country and 
meet persons that you recognize right away or superstars in terms of 
future legislative activity. I was very fortunate to have met a State 
legislator from Pennsylvania. I was so pleased to learn of her election 
to Congress. I am very pleased to yield to the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania (Ms. Hart).
  Ms. HART. I thank my fellow former State Senator. I think we are 
really well equipped as those who worked on the State level to 
implement the 1996 welfare reform to do what we are as we are part of 
the working group on the reauthorization of the welfare reform on the 
Federal level.
  I thank the gentleman for his kind words and for his work on the task 
force and also for giving me a few moments to talk about some of the 
things that have been happening in my area regarding the success 
stories, as the sign says, replacing welfare checks with paychecks, but 
also replacing broken spirits with very strong spirits, a lot of moms 
who are going to be great leaders and examples to their children.
  Those reforms have helped so many men and women get off the welfare 
payroll. We hear the statistics, but it does help, as the gentleman 
before me said, to hear the real story. One example I have is a woman I 
met during our time during the district work period named Michelle who 
was unfortunately left alone by her husband with her two small 
children. Obviously she had been a stay-at-home mom but was forced to 
go and find a job and also a new home.
  If that did not present her with enough challenges, her parents were 
also diagnosed with serious illnesses. Michelle moved in with them to 
take care of them in addition to also caring for her own children. 
Welfare for her was the only lifeline she had to get her from day to 
day. But she had a greater future in mind for her family. Fortunately, 
she did what a lot of welfare recipients are now doing as a part of the 
normal regimen, taking classes, getting a job. She did both. That was 4 
years ago. I am happy to report that today, Michelle does have full 
employment and she is helping others who are in a similar position to 
the position she was in.
  She is now a case manager for the Lawrence County Social Services 
Organization. She took her skills, those she knew from her daily 
experiences and also those she acquired as a student while still 
receiving welfare. She uses those skills daily to help others who are 
going through the same difficulties that she faced. She is one of the 
great success stories, and now Michelle is going to help create a lot 
more success stories.
  There are other organizations aside from those who are paid within 
the system that help us make a difference. Especially after the welfare 
reform law, there were a number of community organizations that stepped 
up to the plate. One I work with very closely called HEARTH, which 
stands for Homelessness Ends with Advocacy, Resources, Training and 
Housing, they have helped so many, mostly women, mostly victims of 
domestic violence, because they help provide some support via housing 
for these women as they again continue to struggle and move forward.
  The first one I would like to tell you about is Cindy, who came to 
HEARTH's facility called Benedictine Place with four small children. 
She wanted to provide a better life for them and for herself but she 
had been a victim of domestic violence and her self-esteem was 
certainly not at its highest. One of her sons did not want to live in a 
shelter. Unfortunately he did go to live with his father, but the other 
three stayed with Cindy and helped Cindy as she helped them to get a 
new view on life.
  While receiving her benefits, Cindy went back to school. She had some 
nurse's training from the past, but she knew she needed to update her 
skills. She took that opportunity, she finished her training and she 
was eager to get her children established. She got her degree, she got 
a job, she found a safe place to live. She is now working and is a 
supervisor at the hospital where she works as an RN. Her oldest 
daughter said it best to her recently. She said, ``Thank you for making 
anywhere we lived a home.'' That statement made the struggle worthwhile 
for Cindy because it could not have been easy. We all know that.
  But we know that for Cindy and for Cindy's children, there is a much 
better future. Not only is she a valuable and contributing member to 
society, but she is returning the favor to other members of her 
community by helping them as much as they helped her.
  Finally, the last example I want to share with you is of a woman 
named Jackie. Jackie was in a very poor situation. She did not have any 
transportation. She had small children as well and needed some support. 
Obviously the welfare system did help keep her going. But once again, 
she now said that it was a huge adjustment, but she has now moved into 
the workplace, she is making enough now to actually rent a house, 
purchase a car. She has a job with full benefits. Jackie says it is 
much better for her. She loves going to work each day. She has given 
back as much as she can. She is now very pleased to be a taxpayer, as 
she said, instead of a burden on all the other taxpayers.
  Granted, welfare has its place. Otherwise, we would not be 
considering reauthorizing welfare. But it is meant to be and has 
through these women been shown to be a very successful means for 
transitioning. These are women who have had hope. They have had 
influence from others who have maybe shown her an example, taken time 
with her as well as wonderful caseworkers who have done a wonderful 
job.
  Over the break, I had a round table meeting with a number of 
caseworkers and those who work in the system, as well as some who have 
gotten through the system and several who are currently on welfare and 
trying to work their way off, whether they are receiving education, 
working part-time and moving in the direction of independence. It was a 
really inspirational meeting, partially because the first woman I spoke 
of, Michelle, was part of the round table is now a caseworker with 
Lawrence County Social Services, but partially because I saw the faces 
of some very strong people whose spirits had once been broken but who 
are now very much recovered, very much moving forward, and very much an 
inspiration to the rest of us. They show us just how much people can do 
if we give them the right tools to move forward. I would like to thank 
the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson) for the opportunity to 
talk about these women and there are so many others.
  I have several other examples I am not going to go into, but they are 
examples of all the people and put faces on all the people across the 
country who have benefited because of the changes. I certainly am very 
happy to be here and to be here now at the Federal level when we can 
reauthorize welfare reform and encourage both education and work and 
make sure that these families are on the way to a very prosperous and 
successful future, along with a great example for their children.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. I thank the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania. Again we appreciate her great service to the people of 
her district and the enthusiasm that she obviously has for the people 
of Pennsylvania.
  Mr. Speaker, another treat that I have run into by being here in 
Congress and meeting the Members of Congress is to be reassured as to 
the competence level on both sides of the aisle of people who serve 
here in Washington. Not only the competent, but very thoughtful. One of 
the most thoughtful to me was the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. 
Wicker).
  I yield to the gentleman from Mississippi.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from South 
Carolina for those very kind and overly generous words. Like my 
colleague from South Carolina and the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania who 
just spoke, I was a member of the State Senate. I served for 7 years in 
that body until I was fortunate enough to be elected by the people to 
come here to Washington. During a portion of that time, Mr. Speaker, I 
served as chairman of the

[[Page H1392]]

Public Health and Welfare Committee in the State Senate in Mississippi, 
and so I share some of the same experiences that the two previous 
speakers have had. I think I can attest, Mr. Speaker, to the difficulty 
we had at the State level prior to 1996 in enacting meaningful welfare 
reform at that level. God knows we tried and we tried to do our best, 
but we did not have the flexibility that we needed and that the 1996 
Act has brought. We were forced into going individually on a case-by-
case, law-by-law basis to the Federal Government for what we called a 
waiver, and hoping that we could get the department, in both Republican 
and Democrat administrations, to agree to those particular waivers. It 
just simply did not give us the flexibility that we needed.
  Also, I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that there was not the solid 
commitment to a work requirement prior to the 1996 Act. And so I am so 
very, very proud that at least three of us and many more have been able 
to come from the State level where we made a gallant attempt to come 
here to Washington, D.C. Of course I got here with my friend from 
Florida who spoke earlier with the class of 1994.
  We worked real hard for 2 years. I am just so pleased to talk about 
the progress that we have had. One of our most prominent colleagues 
from that class is the chairman of the Republican Conference, the 
gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Watts). He has made the statement ever 
since we arrived in town that we need to measure welfare reform 
successes differently. We do not need to measure the success of welfare 
reform by how many people we can get onto the program, how many people 
we can get onto the rolls.
  Quite to the contrary, Mr. Speaker. We need to measure the success by 
how many people we have been able to move off the welfare rolls into 
meaningful employment. Indeed, to move them from the welfare rolls to 
the tax rolls.
  I spoke in my 1-minute address earlier this morning about some 
statistics that I am very, very pleased about concerning the 1996 Act. 
There has been a 56 percent drop in welfare caseloads nationwide. Just 
think about that, Mr. Speaker. Over half of the caseloads, gone, a 
tremendous measure of success. The lowest levels of welfare rolls since 
1965. Two million children, children, rescued from poverty whose moms 
and daddies are now enjoying the benefits of a paycheck and the good 
life that we seek here in the United States of America. And, of course, 
the lowest child poverty levels in many, many years.
  So I am pleased at the statistics that we can cite, and those 
statistics are real and they are meaningful. But I am also so pleased 
that my colleagues tonight have done, as the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Weldon) stated, reduce it to human terms and tell individual facts 
about individual American citizens who have benefited from this 
excellent piece of legislation. And so when I heard that a number of my 
colleagues were going to present success stories, naturally, Mr. 
Speaker, I went back to my local welfare office to ask how the TANF 
program, the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program is doing 
back on the local level where I was able to work with them as a State 
legislator and certainly now continue to be interested.
  And so I was pleased, also, to receive story after story and example 
after example of ways in which this legislation has benefited 
individuals on the human level. Some of these recipients did not mind 
if I used their names, but I thought I would make up a pseudonym for 
them just for their own privacy. One young woman, I will call her Sara, 
became a single mom while attending one of our community colleges in 
northeast Mississippi. Knowing that she needed to complete her 
education in order to provide for her daughter, Sara enrolled in the 
TANF program and received help with expenses involving the raising of a 
child while going to school full-time.

                              {time}  1900

  She went to school full-time while working full-time for the 
community college in the work-study program. After completing community 
college, Sarah commuted to one of our fine 4-year universities in north 
Mississippi where she continued her work-study. The TANF program 
enabled her to focus on the future by paying for transportation costs 
to and from school and for her daughter's day care expenses.
  Now, listen to this, Mr. Speaker. Sarah received her degree, a 
master's in instructional technology in the year 2000. With this post-
graduate degree, this former welfare recipient was able to find a job 
quickly and become self-sufficient, and I can now report with pleasure 
that she is the technology coordinator for one of our very fine local 
school districts in the public school system in northeast Mississippi.
  We can all go on and on with these excellent examples of the way this 
program has worked.
  I will simply mention Sandra, the mother of a child with spina 
bifida, who was able to go on the TANF program and is now a clerk at an 
equipment store in her local hometown.
  I will mention Betty Ann, the mother of four, who for a time had to 
go on the TANF program, but now is working full-time at the Old Miss 
law school.
  Then there is Jane, who was forced to leave her husband of 11 years 
because of some domestic abuse allegations, but has now, after being on 
the TANF program, been able to get back onto her feet, move out of 
public housing and into her own home.
  Then finally there is Marie, the mother of two young sons, a welfare 
recipient who was able to go back to school and is now a registered 
nurse. Success story after success story, whether you take it at the 
individual level or the overall statistical level.
  I simply would add this, and then I will yield back to the gentleman 
from South Carolina with my appreciation for his good leadership on 
this matter.
  More work does need to be done, and it gets harder and harder. If 
this had been an easy matter, we would have been able to resolve it in 
the 30 years when we were pretty much going down hill in the welfare 
area. We need further encouragement of work. We have learned in the 
past 6 years of welfare reform experience that making work pay is an 
integral part of actually moving people into a meaningful life. So we 
need to further encourage work when we are considering the 
reauthorization of this legislation.
  We indeed need to expand State flexibility more so than we have 
already done. I have already mentioned the importance of having that 
and giving our State legislators, who, after all, are closer to the 
people, the opportunity to fit their local needs into an overall 
Federal program, and then to promote marriage.
  I think the statistics more and more become overwhelming that a 
stable marriage, to the extent that the Federal Government can 
encourage stable, voluntary, safe marriages, that marriage is the best 
antidote for welfare problems.
  So, I just would say, Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to talk 
about success, to talk about our determination in this House of 
Representatives to make the system even better, and once again to thank 
my very capable new colleague from South Carolina for his hard work in 
this regard.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very 
much, and thank you for your thoughtful service for the people of 
Mississippi and all of America.
  Mr. Speaker, as we discuss the success stories of welfare reform, as 
the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker) pointed out, you can also 
look at the facts that confirm the success.
  Most important to me, I have got four children, would be to point out 
that child hunger has been reduced nearly half since 1996. The 4.4 
million children who could have been in hunger and were in 1996, that 
has been reduced to 2.6 million in 1999. That is just an extraordinary 
achievement for the children and the young people of the United States.
  Additionally, I would like to bring to your attention what the 
gentleman from Mississippi has already referred to, that with the 
implementation of welfare reform there has been a reduction of nearly 
half of the number of persons who are on welfare. Beginning in 1996, 
there were 4.4 million families that were in the welfare system. 
Currently, that has been reduced, due to the work of the professional 
social workers of our country, to 2.1 million families.

[[Page H1393]]

  The number of individuals receiving cash assistance has decreased by 
56 percent. The number of families, as I indicated, has decreased and 
dropped from 4.4 million in 1996 to 2.1 million in 2001.
  Welfare rolls have fallen 9 million, from 14 million recipients in 
1994 to just 5 million recipients today in the United States.

  Welfare caseloads have not been this low since 1968. Child poverty 
rates are at their lowest level since 1978. African American child 
poverty rates in poverty among children and female heads of families 
are at their lowest level in history.
  Another fact: at 11.3 percent, the overall poverty rate in 2000 was 
the lowest since 1974. A fact that we can all appreciate, because of 
what this means again for children, the rate of births to unwed mothers 
has leveled off; 2.3 million children have been lifted out of poverty.
  Another fact: child support enforcement, making parents pay for child 
care, is up by more than 210 percent.
  Another fact: the number of children living in single parent homes 
has declined, while the number of children living in married-couple 
families has increased, especially among minority families.
  Another fact: since 1996, nearly 3 million children have been lifted 
out of poverty.
  Finally, another fact: before 1996, recipients stayed on welfare for 
an average of 13 years and few worked; but that is changing, because 
people are getting jobs. They are having opportunity. They are leading 
fulfilling lives.
  I over the last couple of weeks have continued a practice that I have 
done in my prior service in the State Senate of visiting the Department 
of Social Service offices; and in the past several weeks, I have 
visited Allendale County in South Carolina. The director is Ms. Lee 
Harley-Fitts. I met with Mr. Fred Washington of Beaufort County, the 
Director. I went by and met with Bernie Zurenda of the Hampton County 
Department of Social Services. I met with Mr. Bill Walker of the 
Lexington County Department of Social Services. And I was very pleased 
to meet with Ms. Richelynn Douglas of Richland County, which is the 
capital of South Carolina.
  In each case I met with the social workers, and I delivered to them 
letters of appreciation for what they had done to create the 
extraordinary and historic social development of the change in welfare 
in the United States. It is these people who are frontline, and I had a 
wonderful time going by and visiting with them.
  Additionally, by telephone I worked with our State director, and this 
is bipartisan. She is, of course, a member of the cabinet of our 
Governor, Ms. Libla Patterson. It just is heartwarming to see these 
people on the front line working so hard and so enthusiastically at the 
office in Lexington.
  I will never forget that the intake persons who worked there are 
called cheerleaders; and in fact, that is what they do. When people 
come in, they cheer the people up. They tell the people who are 
applying for TANF that they can achieve, that they can have jobs 
created.
  Another office had pictures on the wall of success stories right 
there in the office. As the people would come in, of course, they would 
be down and out, discouraged; but they could look around and see 
pictures of people who had succeeded.
  I, too, as my colleagues, have run into specific situations; and in 
the interest of protecting privacy, I would like to read statements 
from persons who have truly benefited from the reforms of welfare in 
the United States that we need to continue, as the President has 
proposed.
  Robin, who currently now works at the Sunshine House Daycare Center, 
says that ``DSS builds your ammunition to get a job. The classes made 
me feel better about myself. They inspired me to get a job. Now I feel 
on top of the world.''
  We have, as was indicated by the gentleman from Mississippi, 
situations where people have gone back to college. We have Melissa, who 
is currently at Benedict College in South Carolina. It is one of the 
largest Historically Black Colleges in the United States with 2,900 
students. I was there last week with President David Swinton; and I was 
happy to be there with my special assistant, Earl Brown, who is a very 
proud graduate of Benedict College.
  Melissa says, ``I used to think badly about DSS, but DSS has helped 
me with bus tickets, a check, class, helped me when I thought I 
couldn't make it through. They even helped me move, with Christmas 
presents. DSS made me do things myself. I have a job now and I can go 
higher. I want to apply for a promotion and go back to adult education. 
I know now that I can make it.''
  There was Kimberly. Kimberly currently works with Scientific Games in 
Columbia, South Carolina. ``I feel 100 percent better since getting a 
job. I no longer have to struggle. Now I only have to work. I am no 
longer living day by day and worry if my food runs out. Now I have my 
own transportation. DSS helped me with financial and moral support. 
They helped with my resume, even faxed it, and they told me to write 
thank you notes. I am thankful I have a job.''
  Then there was Christy. She currently works for a billing service in 
Lexington. ``I have accomplished a lot with the help of DSS. I feel 
independent and self-sufficient. Getting a job has changed my outlook 
on life. I was in a slump, without transportation. Now I have a car 
that I bought with my taxes. DSS helped enable me to provide more for 
my kids with less assistance.''
  These success stories are just so heartwarming, and they remind me 
over and over again of how important it is here in Congress to work for 
the principles to make the changes that can make it possible for people 
to have jobs and change welfare in our country.
  Currently, there are four principles that the Republicans have 
adopted and are using. First of all, it is to promote work, to 
strengthen the path toward independence on the State and Federal level. 
What that has meant is that we are very supportive of education 
programs, of training programs. We all understand that we need to 
provide quality child care, that we need to provide health care for the 
children for the persons who are on temporary relief. We need to 
provide for work to be proactive in regard to transportation, and even 
relocation assistance, if necessary, to move to locations voluntarily 
where jobs may have better pay and be more prolific.
  A good example on transportation in our State is that we were 
confronted with an extraordinary dilemma when we adopted welfare 
reform, and that is that persons could not qualify because they had 
excess assets if they had a vehicle which was worth more than $2,000, 
so the vehicle they had to own had to be $2,000 or less.
  In looking at this, we received information from both sides, 
Democrats and Republicans, that made it real clear. There was one 
outstanding feature of a vehicle that is worth $2,000 or less: it does 
not work. The other feature is it would take an extraordinary amount of 
money to promote the fixing of the vehicle. So we changed that to where 
persons could have a car that was worth $10,000.
  A second principle is improving child well-being and lift more 
children out of poverty. We have done that through working for stronger 
support enforcement for child support. Persons are required now to 
maintain current child support.
  Third, we are promoting healthy marriages and strengthening families. 
This, of course, was referred to by the gentleman from Mississippi. 
Even the Washington Post has identified that this is a very legitimate 
concern in an editorial on April 5 promoting marriage in our country, 
because we already know that the prior welfare laws were ones that 
promoted breaking up of families and of marriage. So the penalties of 
marriage have been done away with.
  The fourth point of the Republican principles and initiatives for 
welfare reform are to foster hope and opportunity, boosting personal 
incomes and improving the quality of life.

                              {time}  1915

  Of course, to me, that also means that we have tax incentives for 
persons to hire, persons who were formerly on welfare, but also tax 
reductions. In fact, tomorrow, I am really looking forward to being 
here to vote to make

[[Page H1394]]

permanent President Bush's tax reductions. That is money in the pockets 
of either the persons who are newly employed or in the pockets of all 
Americans so that we can employ more people. It is jobs. So when we 
hear about tax cuts and providing for incentives by reducing the taxes, 
think again of how that directly relates to creating employment in 
jobs.
  As I indicated a few minutes ago, one of the key people who has meant 
so much to me is the former chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means 
of the South Carolina House of Representatives, and he is here tonight. 
At this time I would like to yield to the gentleman from South Carolina 
(Mr. Brown).
  Mr. BROWN of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. It 
certainly was a pleasure serving with the gentleman in the State 
legislature. We were confronted with this same idea back, I guess in 
the early 1990s, and people said it would not work. People have been 
caught in this web of successive generations, caught in the web of 
welfare, and we felt like we wanted to give them an opportunity. I am 
pleased to have been a part of that and of having the privilege of 
working with the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson). I am 
certainly so grateful to have the gentleman up here in Washington so 
that we can renew that same concerted effort to try to make a 
difference. I think we did back then, and I think this is a good 
program here.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise again in support of welfare reform legislation. 
As we continue to help people bridge the gap from welfare to work, it 
is crucial that we not lose sight of the need for further reform. Our 
welfare system still suffers from decades of mismanagement and 
unnecessary growth. It is incumbent upon us to further the improvements 
enacted by Republicans 6 years ago. In shortening the welfare rolls, we 
strengthen the backbone of working people. By helping hard-working 
Americans to find jobs, we restore dignity to deserving citizens. The 
success of our system is measured by the success of working Americans. 
Six years ago, Republicans took a great first step towards improving 
welfare. However, we cannot afford to stop short. We must walk the 
extra mile.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support further welfare reform. 
The American people must come before petty politics.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
South Carolina (Mr. Brown). I appreciate the gentleman's hard work, 
both in our State and now here in Washington to promote welfare reform.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, would the gentleman yield?
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. I yield to the gentleman from 
Mississippi (Mr. Wicker).
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. The previous speaker, 
the gentleman from South Carolina, mentioned bridging the gap, and that 
is really what the TANF program is all about, the Temporary Assistance 
to Needy Families.
  The problem with the old system is that the gap was so long, so 
large, it seemed that we never built a bridge over it and we never got 
to the end result of actually moving these American citizens from the 
welfare rolls of receiving a check from the taxpayers on to the job 
rolls. So that is one of the really excellent things about this new 
approach and the reason that we need to work harder to reauthorize it 
and make it work better.
  But Mr. Speaker, it takes leadership and it takes a bit of courage to 
effect change in this city of Washington, D.C., and in this Federal 
Government. There is a certain amount of inertia there.
  Whenever we try to do something bold, as this Congress did back in 
1996 in passing welfare reform, the opponents always try to bring out 
what I call the ``parade of horribles,'' all of the terrible things 
that are going to happen to our fellow citizens if we do this sort of 
thing. I can recall the stern warnings that we received from some of 
our friends, the opponents of this legislation, when we were 
considering it back in 1995 and then in 1996. As the gentleman knows, 
it was vetoed by the Clinton administration first before we were able 
to finally push it through in 1996.
  But among the opponents of this legislation, Mr. Speaker, one person 
said, and I quote, ``The people who do this will go to their graves in 
disgrace.'' Well, certainly, that is a charge that we had to face, and 
any time we have the possibility of new public policy, we know that it 
might fail, but we knew in our hearts that it would succeed, and we 
certainly do not believe that we will go to our graves in disgrace. I 
think the author of that remark, Mr. Speaker, probably would not want 
to come forward and take ownership of that particular quote.
  Another said, ``In 5 years time, you will find appearing on your 
streets abandoned children, helpless, hostile, angry, awful; the 
numbers we have no idea.'' I am almost sorry that the gentleman from 
South Carolina took the last poster down because, of course, it showed 
not only a more than 15 percent cut in welfare rolls, but also 
approximately a 50 percent reduction in childhood hunger and childhood 
poverty.
  Just a third quote from this ``parade of horribles'' that we had back 
in 1995 and 1996. One member of the other body said, and I quote, ``The 
central provision of this law, the 5-year cash benefit limit, would be 
the most brutal act of social policy we have known since the 
reconstruction.''
  Well, indeed, we were able to look past those unfounded charges and 
move toward really one of the tremendous success stories, I think, of 
the last 50 years. I am just so pleased to have been a part of it. I 
want to commend the leadership of the House of Representatives and of 
the Senate back during those days of 1995 and 1996 who had the courage 
to withstand these sorts of unfounded charges, move the bill through 
time and again, past a veto on two occasions, and on to the desk of the 
President where it was finally signed into law. We have seen the great 
results of it.
  So once again, we may find ourselves in that sort of debate. I do not 
know, Mr. Speaker, what exactly we will be hearing from the opponents 
of this approach. But I dare say that we may have to, once again, show 
some courage. This time, though, we will be able to point to the great 
successes that we have had.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I 
appreciate the gentleman bringing that to our attention. We indeed do 
have something positive this time to show a proven record of success.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very honored to in Congress serve adjacent to the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston), from the very historic City of 
Savannah, which is practically becoming the sister cities of the 
communities that I represent in Hilton Head Island, so we like to claim 
that we represent very similar and wonderful, positive communities, and 
at this time I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston).
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman north of the 
Savannah River in South Carolina for his time. I wanted to talk a 
little bit about what the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker) was 
talking about in the 1996 session when we took on the historic welfare 
reform bill, and as he said, change is difficult in Washington. In 
fact, I think it was Ronald Reagan who said ``If you don't believe in 
resurrection, try killing a Federal program.'' That seems to be the 
case with change often as well; it is just impossible.

  We were accused of pushing women and children on the street and 
turning our back on the poor, some very tough rhetoric that did not 
match the goals of what we were trying to accomplish, but nonetheless, 
at the end of the day, we had a bipartisan bill. President Clinton 
signed it into law. Since that time, out of 15 million people who were 
on welfare, 9 million are now working and independent. It is a great 
success story, from anybody's point of view.
  Now, with change in Washington, it is an uphill battle, and now it is 
time to go back into that bill again and say, okay, what is working and 
what is not working?
  I remember in 1996 talking to a welfare caseworker and he was telling 
me the situation of a family where there was a young woman, a young 
lady, and she was living with a man who was not her biological father 
because her biological father was in jail. Her biological mother had 
shot another man, and she was also in jail, and just a broken

[[Page H1395]]

family situation. The young woman, 16 years old, in 10th grade, and 
they were worried that she was going to drop out of school, perhaps get 
pregnant, follow in some traps. She was in a very, very high-risk, 
critical stage in her life.
  Then, her sister, who was 13 and in the eighth grade, they said, we 
have to keep her mainstreamed. So one of them we have to have some 
proactive handholding and the other one, we just have to have some 
steady guidance. But the problem is, as their welfare caseworker, he 
said, I cannot do anything about it, because we have one group that 
handles teen health care issues, another group that handles 
transportation, another group, another agency, I should be saying, that 
handles public transportation, and another one that handles public 
housing, and everything was compartmentalized.
  With welfare reform, one of the great advantages was flexibility, so 
they could go into a family like this and work on the whole family 
needs, not just piecemeal, to what the human being needed. So I think 
that welfare, there is a tough side of it, but there is a love side of 
it, and it is an example of tough love.
  When I look at legislation that we passed during the 10 years that I 
have been in Congress, I have to say this is truly one of the more 
profound pieces, because of the 9 million people that it had a positive 
effect on. If the gentleman would continue to yield, I have a true 
story of a woman in my district who lives in Brunswick, Georgia, and I 
am going to call her by her first name only. Mary is a single mother of 
three children. She had not worked in over 10 years when she was 
enrolled in the TANF, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Work 
First Employment Services Program. Now, Mary had a history of substance 
abuse and a history of receiving public assistance. She had attempted 
several job readiness workshops and job search activities without any 
success.
  When the Ready to Work Substance Abuse Day Treatment Program began in 
Glynn County through the Gateway facility, Mary was the first referral 
to the brand-new program. During the next several months, she had 
spotty results with the program. In fact, she relapsed with her drug 
problem and spent some time in jail. But she also became involved in 
drug court and was required to continue her participation in ready to 
work.
  So instead of just saying, well, that is okay, we tried, what this 
welfare reform bill said is, you know what? We are going to keep 
working with you until we get it right. We are not going to give up on 
you, and we are not going to allow you to give up on yourself. So Mary 
persevered. After returning to the program, she became very involved in 
it and completed it successfully. She was assisted by the program after 
that in getting her first job, and now, although she has had some 
problems, as any parent would have, as any single parent would have, 
she is still working, she is drug-free and alcohol free, and she 
actually has been speaking to substance abuse groups about her own 
experience.
  So she is one of the 9 million success stories that is out there. So 
I want to say it is just something that we can all be very, very 
enthusiastic about. Democrat, Republican, rural or urban, big city, it 
does not matter; we should all share in this.

                              {time}  1930

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. 
Again, I am very honored to serve in the same community with the 
gentleman, Hilton Head Island. Of course, the gentleman and I are 
looking forward to the Heritage Golf Classic this weekend, which even 
relates to the issue at hand, Mr. Speaker, in that in terms of welfare 
reform, the jobs that are created.
  The Heritage Golf Classic will generate $56 million to the 
hospitality industry of the low country of South Carolina and Georgia, 
and then it will create a thousand jobs. So we are grateful for the 
Heritage Golf Classic that is under way right now.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Let me say this: Anything we can do to get jobs in this 
area is part of the welfare reform issue. So whether the paycheck comes 
from South Carolina or from the State of Georgia, it is good for our 
area and good for our people.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. And that includes Newport and Jasper, 
too.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. I yield to the gentleman from 
Mississippi.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, of course, we are here tonight talking about 
the success of one single piece of legislation, the 1996 Welfare Reform 
Act. We are indeed proud, and I think we have the individual stories to 
back it up, as well as the overall data. But it is all about job 
creation and moving people from welfare to a meaningful job, and 
meaningful participation in the American way.
  Some people have said, ``Well, Congressman, you have a lot of success 
stories. But actually, I think we could attribute that to the booming 
economy, not to the Welfare Reform Act.''
  I think, actually, the statistics show and the experts have told us 
that a good portion of this success that we have been talking about so 
proudly tonight does come from the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. But 
also, I am happy to take credit, as a Member of this Congress for the 
last 7\1/2\ years, for the good economy that we have had, for the most 
part.
  Now, we have had a business downturn, which we are going to have in a 
free and open and market-driven economy. We are going to have that sort 
of thing. But I am proud of the tax reform and the tax reductions that 
I have twice been able to participate in as a Member of the United 
States House of Representatives. I am proud of the tax reduction that 
we enacted last year, the fact that we sent tax rebate checks back to 
millions of Americans to the tune of $40 billion, at a time when the 
economy was just beginning to slow down and we needed a boost there.
  So to the extent that our policies in this Republican House of 
Representatives for the past 7\1/2\ years have contributed to a booming 
economy, certainly I want to give that credit, too, in creating the 
atmosphere for job expansion. So I think that goes hand-in-hand with 
welfare reform, it goes hand-in-hand with the job creation parts of our 
tax reduction bills.
  I think at this point, let me just see if I can conclude my part of 
this special order, if my friend will permit, and he is standing by, I 
think, with a very important part that my colleagues are able to look 
at.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that the American people will contact us, will 
contact me and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, both houses 
of this Congress during the coming days of this welfare reform debate, 
and let us know if they support the concepts that my friend has right 
beside him, there.
  Would they like their Member of the House of Representatives to vote 
for a piece of legislation that promotes work, something that has been 
the very foundation of this country for over 200 years, to strengthen 
the path towards independence for families, independence from the need 
to receive a welfare check from the government?
  Secondly, I hope our constituents will talk to all of our colleagues, 
Mr. Speaker, about the importance of improving child well-being. We 
have lifted over 2 million children out of poverty. As I said earlier 
tonight, let us lift 1 more million children out of poverty. Let us let 
that be our bold goal in this debate.
  Thirdly, it would be to promote healthy marriages and strengthen 
families. I hope we will hear from our constituents and from our fellow 
Americans about that, Mr. Speaker.
  And then, finally, the fourth Republican principle of welfare reform: 
fostering hope and opportunity to boost personal incomes and improve 
the quality of life, and permit more of our fellow American citizens to 
grab hold of that great American dream.
  I hope we will hear from our constituents. I hope we will have a 
healthy debate among our fellow Americans on the floor of this House. I 
look forward to it.
  Once again, I thank my colleague, the gentleman from South Carolina, 
for his excellent leadership in this regard.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the 
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker). I appreciate his input.
  As I conclude, we have been going over success stories, and my 
colleague,

[[Page H1396]]

the distinguished gentleman from the Third District of South Carolina 
(Mr. Graham), had submitted a success story that he wanted to be known 
by people of the United States. And I can identify with that, because I 
have been a volunteer with Habitat For Humanity.
  This is about Contessa from the Third District of South Carolina. 
``When I was on welfare, I forgot that I was a valuable person, that my 
life mattered. I really did not have the proper esteem when I was on 
welfare. Things are so much better now that I am employed and my self-
esteem has improved.''
  A former welfare recipient, Contessa, like thousands of other 
Americans, has made the transition from welfare to work. Hired as a 
receptionist who was told that ``There is little chance of opportunity 
for you,'' Contessa has continued to move up, and today is a paralegal 
at a prominent law firm in neighboring Greenwood.
  One of the dreams that she has achieved is the ownership of her home. 
That is the American dream. Contessa has taken that bold step forward. 
I end with this quote: ``I have now purchased a home through the Home 
Authority Stepping Home Program, where a portion of your rent goes into 
an escrow account for the downpayment on a home. Becoming a homeowner 
really changes your whole outlook, as does the change from welfare to 
work.''
  I would like to thank my colleagues who have participated tonight. We 
look forward to the discussion about the creation of jobs, the creation 
of opportunity with the welfare reform reauthorization.

                          ____________________