    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [August 8, 1995]
    [Page 1219]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1219]]

    Statement on Welfare Reform
    August 8, 1995

        Six months ago, I convened a Presidential conference on welfare at
    the Blair House. Democrats and Republicans from the Congress to the
    State houses came to Washington to forge a bipartisan agreement on
    welfare.
        At the conference we agreed on the need for child support to be a
    part of any welfare reform legislation. Now, the bill passed in the
    House and the legislation in the Senate includes comprehensive child
    support reform.
        Since the conference, we have agreed to drop any inclusion of
    orphanages in welfare reform. Since the conference, we have agreed to
    require teen moms to live at home and stay in school as a condition to
    receiving welfare. Since the conference, we have agreed that all
    recipients must sign a work contract as a condition upon receiving
    benefits.
        In addition to the progress we have made on a bipartisan basis of
    what welfare reform legislation must include, I have signed a sweeping
    Executive order concerning child support collection from delinquent
    parents. My administration is collecting a record amount of child
    support, making responsibility a way of life, not an option.
        This year alone I have approved a dozen welfare reform experiments.
    The experiments have included new proposals, among them: requiring
    people to work for their benefits, requiring teen moms to stay at home
    and in school, requiring welfare recipients to be held to a time limit,
    requiring delinquent parents to pay child support, and requiring people
    on welfare to sign a contract which would hold them accountable to
    finding a job. The State experiments now total 32 States reaching 7
    million individuals.
        It is time to put partisanship and politics aside and to get the job
    done. The American people deserve real welfare reform and have been kept
    waiting long enough. We need a bipartisan bill that ends welfare and
    replaces it with work. I hope the Senate will place welfare at the top
    of its agenda in September and take swift action.
        While Congress continues to debate welfare, I will proceed with the
    far-reaching welfare reforms I initiated ith the States over the last 2
    years. We will continue to move people from welfare to work. We will
    continue to require teen moms to stay in school and live at home as a
    condition of their benefits. I call on this Congress to join me in a
    bipartisan endeavor, with politics aside and the national interest at
    the center of our efforts.