[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 36 (Wednesday, March 13, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H1365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           TANF AUTHORIZATION

  (Mr. TAKANO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, Republicans say the darnedest things. I'd 
like to read a statement from a 2005 letter from the Republican 
Governors Association outlining its priorities for TANF 
reauthorization:

       As Governors, we believe the following provisions . . . are 
     integral to State programs and support their inclusion and 
     protection as the bill moves forward through regular order.
       The [2005] Senate bill provides States with the flexibility 
     to manage their TANF programs. . . . Increased waiver 
     authority . . . and the ability to coordinate State programs 
     are all important aspects of moving recipients from welfare 
     to work.

  The letter was signed by Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Mitch 
Daniels, Rick Perry, and many more.
  Mr. Speaker, today, the House debates banning the very waivers that 
Republican leaders from across the country have already expressed their 
support for. Mr. Speaker, I urge my Republican colleagues to listen to 
Republican Governors and allow States to find new and creative models 
to move people from welfare to work.

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