[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 29 (Monday, July 22, 1996)]
[Page 1266]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Memorandum on the Work Requirements Initiative

July 16, 1996

Memorandum for the Secretary of Health and Human Services

Subject: Work Requirements Initiative

    I hereby direct you, in order to move people from welfare to work, 
to exercise your legal authority to propose a regulation that would 
require all welfare participants in the Job Opportunities and Basic 
Skills Training (JOBS) program to sign a personal responsibility plan 
for working within 2 years. After 2 years, any such JOBS participant who 
refuses to work, even though a job is available, will be sanctioned by 
loss of her AFDC benefits.
    Welfare reform is first and foremost about work. People who are able 
to work should be expected to go to work. This proposed regulation will 
dramatically change expectations for welfare recipients and welfare 
agencies, ensuring that finding work quickly becomes their primary goal.
                                            William J. Clinton