[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
[May 18, 1996]
[Pages 773-774]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
May 18, 1996

    Good morning. Four years ago, I challenged America to end welfare as 
we know it, to require work, promote responsible parenting, shift the 
system from dependence to independence. Just a few days after I took 
office, I met with the Nation's 50 Governors, and I urged every one of 
them to send me a welfare reform plan that would help to meet that 
challenge. In return, I pledged to waive outmoded or counterproductive 
Federal rules that get in the way of reform.
    Most of the Governors took me up on that deal. So in the last 3 
years, my administration has granted 38 States welfare reform waivers, 
clearing away Federal rules and regulations to permit States to build 
effective welfare reforms of their own. The State-based reform we've 
encouraged has brought work and responsibility

[[Page 774]]

back to the lives of 75 percent of the Americans on welfare.
    We're doing a lot more than signing waivers. We've also pressed 
ahead on fundamental reforms to make the welfare system reflect the 
basic values that have stood up so well for so long, that if you bring a 
child into this world, you must take responsibility for that child; that 
Government will not subsidize irresponsible or reckless behavior; that 
welfare is a second chance, not a way of life.
    That's why I signed a Presidential order to require Federal 
employees to pay child support and increased Federal efforts to enforce 
child support orders across State lines. I toughened sanctions on 
welfare and food stamp recipients who refuse to work. I took action 
earlier this month to require teen mothers to stay in school and sign 
personal responsibility contracts if they are to receive welfare 
benefits. That's also why I sent Congress a sweeping welfare reform plan 
that would do all this and more.
    Our hard work is paying off. America is in the midst of what the New 
York Times has called a quiet revolution in welfare reform under our 
administration. The number of Americans on welfare has dropped by 1.3 
million since I took office in January 1993. Food stamp rolls are down 
by even more, and so are teen pregnancy rates. What numbers are up? 
Well, child support collections have jumped 40 percent, and the number 
of people who are required to work as a condition for receiving welfare 
is also way up.
    Today I'm pleased to report that two States, Wisconsin and Maryland, 
are adding momentum to this quiet revolution. Last week, Wisconsin 
submitted to me for approval the outlines of a sweeping welfare reform 
plan, one of the boldest yet attempted in America, and I'm encouraged by 
what I've seen so far.
    Under the Wisconsin plan, people on welfare who can work must work 
immediately. The State will see to it that the work is there, in private 
sector jobs that can be subsidized if necessary or in community service 
jobs if there are no private jobs available. The State says it will also 
see to it that families have health care and child care, so that parents 
can go to work without worrying about what will happen to their 
children. But then they must go to work, or they won't get paid. If they 
do work, of course, they'll have the dignity of earning a paycheck, not 
a welfare check. The plan would send a clear message to teen parents as 
well. If you're a minor with a baby, you'll receive benefits only if you 
stay in school, live at home, and turn your life around.
    All in all, Wisconsin has the makings of a solid, bold welfare 
reform plan. We should get it done. I pledge that my administration will 
work with Wisconsin to make an effective transition to a new vision of 
welfare based on work, that protects children and does right by working 
people and their families.
    Maryland also has come up with its own innovative welfare reform 
plan. It cracks down on welfare fraud, comes down hard on parents who 
turn their backs on child support, and helps working parents with child 
care so they won't be driven onto welfare in the first place.
    The reforms in Wisconsin, Maryland, and other States are very 
encouraging for two reasons: First, they give us hope that we can break 
the vicious cycle of welfare dependency and, second, because they make 
it clear that there is now a widespread national consensus shared by 
people without regard to their political party on what welfare reform 
should look like. It should be pro-work, pro-family, pro-independence, 
responsible. Welfare should be a second chance, not a way of life.
    So the States can keep on sending me strong welfare reform 
proposals, and I'll keep on signing them. I'll keep doing everything I 
can as President to reform welfare State by State, if that's what it 
takes.
    But there's a faster way to bring this welfare reform to the entire 
Nation. There are bipartisan welfare reform plans sitting in the House 
and the Senate right now that do what the American people agree welfare 
reform must do: They require welfare recipients to work; they limit the 
time people can stay on welfare; they toughen child support enforcement; 
and they protect our children.
    So I say to Congress: Send me a bill that honors these fundamental 
principles. I'll sign it right away. Let's get the job done. Let's do it 
now. Let's bring welfare reform to all 50 States. Then we'll move on to 
the other challenges we face as we stand at the dawn of a new century.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 3:40 p.m. on May 17 at the Italia 
America Bocce Club in St. Louis for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on May 18.