[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 629]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                REDUCE POVERTY ALONG WITH WELFARE ROLLS

  (Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, as we move towards 
reauthorization of TANF, I am pleased to join with my colleagues this 
morning in a discussion of welfare reform. We must focus on reducing 
poverty as well as reducing the welfare rolls.
  Although welfare rolls are down nearly 50 percent in 5 years, many 
former recipients have been pushed into low-wage jobs that keep them in 
poverty. Families cannot be economically secure without work that pays 
a living wage.
  We need to reduce poverty, not just caseloads, by focusing on 
employment that will lift families out of poverty and really make work 
pay. Therefore, one of the best ways to reduce poverty is to raise the 
minimum wage to a livable wage. Let us make this a part of welfare 
reform.

                          ____________________