[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 49 (Monday, December 12, 1994)]
[Pages 2480-2481]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the White House Initiative on Welfare Reform

December 8, 1994

    Today, after meeting with a group of Governors from both parties, I 
am announcing that the White House will convene a national bipartisan 
working session on welfare reform next month.
    Welfare reform is a top priority for my administration, for the 
Governors, for the new Congress, and above all, for the American people. 
Americans have asked their elected officials to put aside politics as 
usual and begin earnest work to solve our Nation's problems, and welfare 
reform is at the very top of our agenda.
    I have called for this session as a first step in an honest dialog 
about our country's broken welfare system and what we must do to fix it. 
Washington doesn't have all the answers, and Government doesn't, either. 
Every one of us in this country has to begin taking individual 
responsibility for turning this country around.
    I have worked on this issue for my whole career in public life. When 
I was a Governor, I worked closely with President Reagan and Senator 
Moynihan to develop the bipartisan consensus that led to passage of 
important legislation to strengthen families and move people from 
welfare to work.
    I believe we must end welfare as we know it, because the current 
welfare system is a bad deal for the taxpayers who pay the bills and for 
the families who are trapped on it. The American people deserve a 
Government that honors their values and spends their money judiciously 
and a country that rewards people who work hard and play by the rules.
    People want their leaders to stop the partisan bickering, come 
together, and roll up their sleeves and get to work. This meeting will 
be the beginning of a new day, not just for the welfare system but for 
how our Government works.

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