[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4944]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                CONTINUING THE SUCCESS OF WELFARE REFORM

  (Mr. TIAHRT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, I support President Bush's welfare reform. I 
am often asked what I consider some of the best accomplishments I have 
made as a Congressman. Well, I am very proud to have been a Member of 
the historic 105th Congress that passed the 1996 Welfare Reform Act.
  Perhaps more than anything else that we have accomplished during my 
time in Washington, reforming welfare has given the most hope to 
American families. Welfare caseloads fell by 9 million since 1994. That 
means 9 million more Americans, 9 million more people are on the road 
to making their dreams a reality.
  The number of mothers who are more likely to go on welfare, but 
instead have a job, rose by 40 percent between 1995 and 2000. Since 
1996, nearly 3 million children have been lifted from poverty. In the 
African American community, the child poverty rate is at an all-time 
record low.
  The success of the 1996 welfare reform law is beyond dispute. Our 
challenge and our great opportunity is to build on that success by 
letting more Americans work their way to freedom of dependence and 
follow the path to making their dreams a reality.

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