[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 19 (Monday, May 13, 1996)]
[Pages 791-792]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

May 4, 1996

    Good morning. This week was another good week for America. We 
learned that growth is up and unemployment is down. That's good for 
American jobs and good for America's families. We also had more good 
news on America's families today involving the Family and Medical Leave 
Act, which I was proud to sign in 1993. This week the bipartisan panel 
Congress created to study it reported that the law has helped more than 
one in six American employees take time off because of a serious family 
health problem, without any danger of losing their jobs. And almost 90 
percent of the businesses found that complying with family and medical 
leave cost them little or nothing. This is making America's families 
stronger, promoting work and family.
    That's what we have to do with welfare reform, too. Our job is to 
fix a welfare system that too often pulls families apart and turns it 
into one that helps families pull together, to fix a system that traps 
too many people in a cycle of dependency that ends up snaring their 
children as well, and instead, to create one that promotes jobs and 
independence.
    For the last 3 years, we have been working hard to turn the welfare 
system around. All across America, the welfare rolls are down, food 
stamp rolls are down, teen pregnancy rates are down compared to 4 years 
ago. And compared to 4 years ago, more and more people on welfare today 
are working as a condition of receiving welfare.
    A lot of this has happened because our administration has worked 
very hard to free States from Federal rules and regulations which have 
built up over the years and which contribute to the flaws in the present 
system. We have slashed this redtape to 37 States, covering 75 percent 
of all the people on welfare in America, so that they can take steps to 
fix the broken system. State by State, we are building a welfare system 
that demands work, requires responsibility, and protects our children.
    But more needs to be done. The American people need a welfare system 
that honors American values: work, family, and personal responsibility. 
In 1994, and again this year, I sent Congress a sweeping welfare reform 
plan that would impose strict time limits on how long people can stay on 
welfare and strict work requirements for people when they are on 
welfare. My plan would also provide more funding for child care, so 
single parents can go to work. And it would crack down on parents who 
skip out on their responsibility to pay child support.
    If Congress sends me a welfare reform bill that is tough on work 
instead of tough on children and weak on work, I will gladly and proudly 
sign it. Meanwhile, I am going to keep moving ahead to fix the welfare 
system by promoting work and looking out for our children.
    Today, I'm acting to help teen mothers break free from the cycle of 
dependency for good. The only way for teen mothers to escape the welfare 
trap is to live at home, stay in school, and get the education they need 
to get a good job. We must make sure the welfare system demands that 
teen mothers follow the responsible path to independence.
    Ohio has used freedom from Federal rules to implement a terrific 
program they call LEAP--Learning, Education, and Parenting. LEAP cuts 
welfare checks when teen mothers don't go to school, and rewards them 
when they do. And it works. A report released just this week by the 
Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation shows that for an important 
group of teens LEAP significantly increased the number of teen mothers 
who finished school, got jobs, and got off welfare. Every State should 
follow this example.
    That's why today I'm announcing that every State must put in place a 
plan to keep

[[Page 792]]

teen mothers on welfare in school. We are going to audit the progress of 
every State and make the results public. Second, we are going to make 
teen mothers who drop out of school go back to school and sign contracts 
that spell out exactly how they are going to take responsibility for 
their own lives. And third, we are giving States immediate authority to 
provide bonuses to teen mothers who go to school and graduate, and to 
cut back the checks of those who don't.
    Finally, I'm challenging every State in the country to use its power 
to keep children who have children at home where they belong. There 
should be no incentive to leave home for a bigger welfare check. 
Unfortunately, even though they can, most States don't require teen 
mothers to live at home. That's wrong. Of course, if there is an abusive 
situation at home, children should be living in another safe, 
responsible setting. But we have to make it clear that a baby doesn't 
give you a right, and won't give you the money, to leave home and drop 
out of school. Today we are moving to make responsibility a way of life, 
not an option.
    These commonsense steps have bipartisan support. They will help teen 
parents escape the cycle of dependency and start down the path to a 
successful future for themselves and their children. Now Congress needs 
to do its job and pass welfare reform. I'm glad that a group of 
bipartisan lawmakers is working on welfare reform. If Congress sends me 
a clean welfare reform plan that demands work, demands responsibility, 
protects children, and helps families stay together, I will sign it. 
Until then, I'll keep working to do everything in my power to reform 
welfare, step by step and State by State.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Map Room at the White 
House.