[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 49 (Friday, April 26, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TANF REAUTHORIZATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 25, 2002

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, right now, this Congress is working on 
reauthorization of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, or TANF 
(``tan if''). There are some good bills out there that really address 
critical problems with welfare, such as Patsy Mink's bill, H.R. 3113.
  Unfortunately, the bills that are actually moving toward the Floor 
have some very substantive problems. Those bills are H.R. 4090, 
introduced by Wally Herger, and H.R. 4092, introduced by Buck McKeon. 
Both bills follow closely along the lines of the Administration's 
proposal, and neither will make positive steps toward reducing poverty 
in this country.
  The main theme for all of the Republican proposals is workfare. I'd 
like to talk for just a minute about what workfare is and what it is 
not.
  Workfare is a program where people are herded like cattle into 
unskilled labor, where they are paid low wages and not given 
protections that non-welfare recipients have, such as minimum wage, 
OSHA protections, and civil rights regulations.
  In New York's largest workfare-type program, 30,000 municipal jobs 
have been displaced by workfare jobs. The welfare workers who were 
doing the same jobs as the municipal workers have not been given 
minimum wage and work protections.
  Workfare has been called ineffective by some states, and expensive by 
many others. The expense is so great that, to institute it on the level 
called for by Herger or McKeon's bill would divert resources from other 
initiatives. Doing so would cut off recipients from services they 
desperately need, such as training and child care. In a nutshell, it 
would be counterproductive.
  At a time when the Administration's budget flat funds TANF, 
decreasing the value of the block grant by 22 percent, we cannot embark 
on new experiences that will waste the precious dollars we have.
  What we do need is a new focus on education and training. Single 
female heads of households with a high school diploma are 60 percent 
more likely to have jobs. That number increases to 95 percent when they 
have an associate's degree. In addition, jobs requiring the least 
education experience the lowest professional growth, according to the 
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  The studies that have been done, and the stories from recipients tell 
us in no uncertain terms what we need to do to get people off of 
welfare and out of poverty. It is crucial that we pay attention to 
their suggestions, rather than going off in new directions with no 
proven track record.

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