[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.