    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [March 23, 1995]
    [Pages 394-395]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on House of Representatives Action on Welfare Reform
    March 23, 1995

        I want to applaud Democrats and Republicans in the House of
    Representatives for approving an amendment this afternoon to require
    States to deny drivers and professional licenses to deadbeat parents who
    refuse to pay child support. This tough provision was a central part of
    the welfare reform plan my administration introduced last year and sends
    a clear signal: No parent in America has a right to walk away from the
    responsibility to raise their children.
        I congratulate the sponsor of the amendment, Representative Marge
    Roukema (R-NJ), as well as Representative Barbara Kennelly (D-CT) and
    other Members who have worked across party lines to make tough child
    support enforcement a central part of welfare reform. With this
    amendment, the House welfare reform legislation now includes every major
    child support pillar of our welfare reform plan, which offered the
    toughest possible child support enforcement measures ever put forward.

    [[Page 395]]

        These actions on child support enforcement prove that welfare reform
    can and must be a bipartisan issue. Unfortunately, the House Republican
    bill still does not offer the kind of real welfare reform that Americans
    in both parties expect. Welfare reform must be tough on work and tough
    on deadbeat parents, not tough on children.
        I look forward to working with Republicans and Democrats in both
    Houses of Congress to enact real reform that makes work and
    responsibility a way of life.