    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [July 8, 1995]
    [Pages 1063-1064]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    July 8, 1995

        Good morning. Last week I spoke to you about the need for Congress
    to pass reforms to end welfare as we know it. I want Congress to send me
    a bill that requires work, demands responsibility, and provides the
    child care people need to move from welfare to work.
        This issue is now before the U.S. Senate. The truth is, Republicans
    and Democrats alike know what's needed to get this job done. A majority
    of Senators in both parties agree with me that welfare reform must
    require everyone who can work to go to work. We agree on the need for
    the toughest possible child support enforcement. And we agree that no
    one who can work should be able to stay on welfare forever. So we are
    close.
        Congress could put a bill on my desk, a good bill, within the next
    few weeks. After a generation of debate, we have a chance, finally, to
    do what's right for the taxpayers who pay for a failed welfare system
    and for the people who are trapped by it. But in recent days we've seen
    unsettling signs that progress could fall to gridlock. This week,
    Republican leaders said that a threat from the far right in their own
    party could keep them from passing a welfare reform bill this year. A
    handful of Senators are threatening to hold welfare reform hostage to
    their own political views. They're threatening to block a vote on any
    bill that doesn't cut off all help to children whose mothers are poor,
    young, and unmarried.
        I believe their position is wrong. Republican and Democratic
    Governors also strongly oppose Washington telling them to throw children
    off the rolls simply because their parents are under

    [[Page 1064]]

    18 and unmarried. And the Catholic Church has taken a very strong
    position on this, fearing that to cut young people under 18 and their
    children off welfare would lead to more abortions. This approach also
    would punish the innocent children of unmarried teenagers for the
    mistakes of their parents. This might cut spending on welfare, but it
    wouldn't reform welfare to promote work and responsible parenting.
    That's why so many Republicans and Democrats oppose it.
        The threat of the Senators to take this extreme position and block
    this welfare reform effort is just wrong. We've come a long way in the
    welfare reform debate in the last few years. Not so very long ago, many
    liberals opposed requiring all welfare recipients who can work to do so.
    And not so long ago, most conservatives thought the Government shouldn't
    spend money on child care to give welfare mothers a chance to go to work
    and still be good parents. Now we have a broad consensus for both. We
    should do both, and we shouldn't allow welfare reform to be held
    prisoner to ideological political debates.
        I ran for President to bring new opportunity to the American people
    and demand more responsibility in return. That's what I call the New
    Covenant. And welfare reform is a crucial part of this effort. We are
    now at an historic moment. The failure to pass welfare reform this year
    would be a disservice to the American people. It shouldn't become
    another victim to the politics of gridlock. Republicans and Democrats
    alike have a real responsibility to bring real change to Washington, and
    a bipartisan majority in the Senate is prepared to vote for a welfare
    reform bill with time limits and real work requirements and without
    moralistic dictates that will do more harm than good.
        A few days ago, in a speech at Georgetown University, I said our
    leaders have to stop looking only for political advantage and start
    looking for common ground. I challenged our leaders to do four things:
    First, we need more conversation and less combat. So let's settle our
    differences on welfare reform without resorting to legislative trench
    warfare designed to stop real reform at any cost. Second, when we do
    differ, we ought to offer an alternative. When the vast majority of
    Americans and Members of Congress agree on an issue like welfare reform,
    a small minority shouldn't be able to get away with ``just say no''
    politics. Third, we ought to look at our problems with a view toward the
    long term. Moving people from welfare to work will save a lot more money
    in the long run than throwing children off the rolls. They'll be in
    trouble, and they'll cost us a lot of money in the long run and a lot of
    our national life as well. We are never going to end welfare unless
    people have the training and child care to be good workers and good
    parents. And finally, we shouldn't just berate the worst in America, we
    ought to spend more time concentrating on the best. That's what I have
    done by giving 29 States the freedom from burdensome Federal Government
    regulations so they can lead the way in helping to find new ways to end
    welfare.
        The only way our country can meet the profound challenges of the
    21st century and the global economy is if we all pull together and we
    all look forward. We don't have a person to waste. That's why welfare
    reform is so critical. We can't afford to filibuster away our future.
        So I say to those in Congress who have joined me in demanding
    responsibility from people on welfare, you have a responsibility, too.
    Don't place pride of partisanship ahead of our national pride. Don't
    pander to the partisan extremes. Let's not let politics stand in the way
    of making work and responsibility a way of life for the next generation.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the
    White House.