[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2295]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES BONUS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, it has been nearly three years since we 
passed the Nation's welfare reform law, and most news reports paint a 
very glowing picture. The welfare rolls are at a 30-year low; more 
people than ever are working; billions of surplus welfare dollars stack 
up in government coffers, unspent and unused. The great social 
experiment, the 1996 welfare reform law, is a great success, right? 
Right?
  But, Mr. Speaker, what about the 14.5 million children still living 
in poverty, or the 71 percent of welfare recipients who end up in dead-
end jobs that pay below the poverty line? What about the many States 
that get people off welfare by simply turning away people asking for 
help, or the States that meet their goals by shifting welfare 
recipients into low-paying jobs with no benefits and no career or 
salary ladders.
  We do not hear much about these families, Mr. Speaker, because we are 
still thinking about welfare reform in the wrong way. We had it wrong 
when we set out to end welfare as we know it. Our goal should have been 
then and should be now to end poverty as we know it.
  Mr. Speaker, I know it is not fashionable or popular to talk about 
making changes in the welfare law these days. But, Mr. Speaker, I would 
say that today is exactly the right time to be rethinking our Nation's 
welfare policies. With the economy booming and a surplus growing in 
Federal welfare accounts, States do not have to content themselves to 
simply get people off of welfare. States should and could be taking 
advantage of the opportunity they now have to invest in helping low-
income families become truly self-sufficient.
  Yesterday, I introduced a new bill: The Building Opportunities Bonus 
Act, or BOB. It will be easy to remember. BOB provides $1 billion over 
five years to reward the ten States that do the best job in three key 
areas, key areas to getting welfare recipients in self-sufficiency. 
First, child care. Second, job training. And third, assistance for 
victims of domestic violence.
  Services like these will ensure that poor children are not left 
behind; that welfare recipients can access good jobs, jobs actually 
that can weather a dip in the economy; and that battered women can get 
and keep jobs while keeping themselves and their families safe.
  Thirty years ago, Mr. Speaker, I was a single mother on welfare. 
Because I was employed, I was forced to shuffle my kids, ages one, 
three and five, among 13 different child care providers in a single 12-
month period. I was working at the time, using my welfare check to pay 
for child care and health care for my family, but it was not until I 
had a consistent, reliable child care situation that I was able to 
truly grow in my job, and immediately I was able to support my family 
without the welfare safety net.
  Every family on welfare needs quality and accessible child care. 
Welfare moms also need educational and training opportunities. 
Americans have long realized that education is the door to success. But 
our new welfare law has too often told welfare recipients that the only 
door open to them is the employees' entrance to McDonald's. Without job 
skills, welfare recipients are shifted into dead-end jobs, entry level 
jobs that pay below the poverty line. These jobs cannot support a 
family, and they are the first to go when the economy falters.
  Many poor women struggle not just with their economic situation, but 
also face the harsh reality of domestic violence. Studies show that 
between 15 and 30 percent of welfare recipients suffer from domestic 
violence and from abuse. We need to address this issue head-on and make 
sure women suffering from domestic violence can improve first their 
home situation, and then their economic situation. And we do not want 
to trap them in jobs that are dead-end.
  The sad truth is that we are nowhere close to providing enough of 
these services: child care, job training, and help from domestic 
violence. We need to give States an incentive. That is the only way 
welfare reform is really going to work for all Americans, so that 
welfare-to-work equates into true self-sufficiency.

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