[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 63 (Thursday, May 16, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H2515]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             WELFARE REFORM

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I am from a State that made great 
progress 5 years before we enacted welfare reform, and it is doubly sad 
for me to see us poised to turn our back on the principles that helped 
make my State successful.
  The House has proposed new mandates which are unfunded. We are going 
to impose a new approach for work requirements that most successful 
States have rejected. But most embarrassing for the Republican 
leadership and the Bush administration is that this Chamber is not even 
going to be allowed to discuss a real amendment to provide the need for 
child care that is so essential to successful welfare reform.
  Unfortunately, the House is again going to engage in an empty 
legislative process. The American public deserves better treatment for 
the critical major issues of our time.

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