[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 20667]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         WELFARE REFORM SUCCESS

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, hearing the Democrats say they reformed 
welfare is similar to saying all of us in this House won gold in the 
Olympics. Did we participate in the success at Sydney? No. But did this 
Nation benefit from the years of practice and experience of these gold 
medals? Yes.
  When we were talking about reforming welfare, the Democrats said 
welfare reform would fail, and President Clinton vetoed this 
legislation twice.

                              {time}  1030

  Well, failure could not be further from the truth today. Taxpayers 
are better off than they were 4 years ago due to fiscal responsibility 
and reforms passed by the Republican Congress. Six years ago welfare 
checks in the Northeast totaled about $47 million, and this year the 
costs are about $12 million, nearly $35 million in savings.
  Republicans have helped restore incentive to work instead of dooming 
families to a life of continued dependencies. Our policy should be a 
hand up, not a hand out.

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