[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15870]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           RECOGNIZING THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF WELFARE REFORM

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RAHM EMANUEL

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 25, 2006

  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 10th 
anniversary of President Clinton's historic welfare reform initiative. 
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 
1996 fundamentally transformed our nation's welfare system and provided 
a clear direction for the future of this important program.
  I am proud to have played an active role in the passage of this 
legislation during my time in the White House. If it were not for 
President Clinton's vision, welfare reform would never have gained the 
bipartisan support that was required. President Clinton vowed to end 
welfare as we know it and he succeeded in forming a system that both 
rewarded and required work.
  In Illinois alone, 217,000 families worked their way off of TANF and 
into the workforce. President Clinton realized that the best job 
training was an actual job.
  We also realized that jobs came along with new challenges for welfare 
recipients. Therefore we assisted recipients in finding child care and 
instituted transitional medical assistance for families leaving the 
welfare rolls.
  The greatest accomplishment of welfare reform was connecting a 
generation of children with a culture of work. Many children who would 
have grown up in a household with non-working parents, have 
internalized the value of work and learned how to build a better future 
for themselves and their families.
  Thanks to welfare reform, more than 3 million children rose above the 
poverty line between 1996 and 2000. Earnings of the poorest people in 
our country rose significantly.
  However, some of the progress we made has been reversed. Between 2001 
and 2005, 5 million Americans fell below the poverty line, including 
1.5 million children.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend those in Congress that worked to pass this 
legislation in 1996, and I look forward to working with them to ensure 
that what we accomplished in 1996 is not undone. I urge my colleagues 
to build on the success of the past with a commitment to ensuring the 
future success of welfare reform.

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