[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 37 (Monday, September 16, 1996)]
[Pages 1694-1698]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Roundtable Discussion on Welfare Reform in Kansas City, 
Missouri

September 10, 1996

    The President. Let me thank you, Clyde and Gayle and Congresswoman 
McCarthy and Mayor Cleaver, and to all of you who have come here. I was 
with some of you back in 1994 to talk about what Missouri was doing, and 
I wanted to come back because, as all of you know, the welfare system is 
about to change nationwide. And I have worked very hard in the last 4 
years to help people move from welfare to work. There are nearly 2 
million fewer people on welfare today than there were the day I became 
President. And we've done it by working with States and giving them 
waivers from Federal rules.
    But this new welfare reform law fundamentally changes the bargain. 
It basically says, we will continue to guarantee to every person on 
welfare health care, food for the children and the family, child care if 
they go to work, but what used to come in the monthly check will now be 
given to the State either to continue as a monthly check or to be used 
in some other way to move into the workplace.
    And the States have to meet very stiff requirements on getting jobs 
for people. And I'm convinced that the only way the States are going to 
be able to really move large numbers of people to work in a short time 
is with a partnership with the private sector, doing what Missouri has 
done, using what used to be the welfare check or a food stamp check as 
an income supplement to a private employer who can then engage in 
training and work, and do what you've done.
    And before--I'm going over to speak to the Southern Governors 
Association which Governor Carnahan is hosting here, to talk to these 
Governors about what they have to do now. But before I do, I wanted to 
come back here and listen to all of you and thank you, those of you who 
have moved from welfare to work, and thank the employers for

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being involved in this program but also to emphasize to the American 
people and to the press and through them, to the American people, what 
has to happen next.
    As I've said repeatedly, the whole debate on welfare in Washington 
was largely a political debate until this law was signed. And I'm sure 
when you read in the newspaper or saw on the evening news some of the 
things that were said, it didn't strike you as particularly real, based 
on your own experience; it's just--a lot of it was politics.
    But the politics is over now. The law's changed, and the States and 
the communities now have a responsibility to create a story like yours 
for every able-bodied person on welfare in America. That's basically 
what this law says. And we've got to have help from employers, or we 
can't make it. So it's very exciting to me.
    And let me just make one other point about this. I really believe--
and that's why I wanted you to have a chance to tell your story to the 
country, thanks to the help of these people who are with us here--I 
really believe that what we should want for people who hit a rough spot 
in their life and don't have much income is what we want for all 
American families: What we want is for people to be able to succeed in 
raising their children and to be able to succeed in the workplace. And 
if our country has to make a choice between one or the other, we're 
going to be in trouble. Everybody's most important job is raising their 
kids. But if the economy doesn't work, we're in trouble. And if we have 
to give up raising our kids to make the economy work, we're in trouble.
    So, to me, welfare reform is part of a larger agenda to help all 
Americans succeed at work and at home. We lowered taxes for the lowest 
income working people in 1993, 15 million of them, so that they wouldn't 
have any incentive to fall back on welfare. We've tried to help people 
with immunizing their children and in a whole range of other areas.
    And one thing that's become, unfortunately, controversial again in 
the last couple of days, the first bill I signed was the family and 
medical leave law which basically says you don't lose your job if you 
take some time off when a baby's born or a parent's sick. I think it 
should be expanded in a limited way to let people go to parent-teacher 
conferences or regular doctor's appointments with their kids. But I 
certainly don't think it should be repealed. I think that would be a 
mistake, because what we're trying to do, again, is to create an 
environment in which people can succeed at home and at work.
    And I'm trying to take all these issues out of politics, if I can, 
and get them down to people. So that's why I'm glad to be here; that's 
why I thank you for letting me come. And Clyde, why don't you go on with 
the program and maybe we'll all learn a lot about what you're doing 
here.

[At this point, Clyde McQueen, president, Full Employment Council, 
invited former welfare recipients to share their experiences with the 
employment program. A participant stated that moving from welfare to 
work made her a better role model to her children, suggested that more 
men should participate in the program, and described program services.]

    The President. You made a comment about how it's important to get 
the men involved. Let me just say--maybe everyone in the press knows 
this, but let me emphasize, the reason that's important in terms of what 
they're doing here in Missouri and what we can do under welfare reform 
is that with certain rare exceptions--some States cover two-parent 
households with welfare. But basically, single men cannot get welfare in 
America; if they get any income supplement, it's something they get from 
the State. What they have been getting from the Federal Government is 
food stamps, and if they're able-bodied, that's been cut back.
    But what Missouri is doing is taking the food stamps income that men 
could get, along with the welfare income that women could get, and 
making them both available as supplements to employers if they will hire 
people either off welfare or idle men who are only getting food stamps. 
And so this State has really done, I think, a remarkable job of trying 
to use all the tools available to it.

[Participants described their experiences with the program, emphasizing 
the assistance they received in child care and health insurance 
coverage.]

[[Page 1696]]

    The President. Now, under this welfare reform bill we can leave 
people with their Medicaid health insurance for a year, maybe more. And 
also with--if their jobs pay a low enough income, they can also get the 
food stamp supplements. And we have a lot more money for child care than 
we did before.
    Now, it's conceivable we could run out of child care money, but if 
we do it will be what I would call a high-class problem. If we run out 
of child care money, it will be because we've had so many good employers 
who have taken people and would just--and I think the Congress would 
probably help us some then, because they--we got the money we thought we 
would need based on what we thought we could do in placing people in 
work.

[Participants continued to relate their experiences with the program. An 
employer then described his satisfaction with new employees hired under 
the wage supplement program.]

    The President. Has the wage supplement helped you?
    Participant. Oh, absolutely.
    The President. I sort of see it as like a premium we can pay to get 
a private employer not only to train people for the job but also to 
train people for the workplace, the whole--changing the culture.

[The participant discussed training new employees. Other employers 
discussed their participation in the program.]

    The President. Well, the one thing that I wanted to put in there is 
that even if there's turnover, that the employers that have participated 
in this program are doing something very positive because we are really 
trying to have everybody be able to tell the stories we're hearing 
around this table. And it's a different journey for some people than 
others, and it's a longer journey for some people than others. But we're 
basically trying to break up a mindset and an almost physical isolation 
from the world of work. That's what Birdella was talking about, how it 
changes even the neighborhoods, how they work, how they function, how 
the kids feel.
    And the way this new law works, everybody, unless you have a 
disability or there's a child with a disability or some reason, 
everybody has a lifetime limit of 5 years you can do this if you're 
able-bodied, and a limit at one time of 2 years before you have to move 
into some sort of work environment. So even if there's turnover, even if 
somebody only makes it 30, 60, 90, 120 days, that's still a work 
experience they never had before, it's some touching of the world of 
work they never had before. And it gives you a better chance to make it 
the next time.

[Mr. McQueen mentioned the link between the wage supplement program and 
economic development initiatives in the Kansas City empowerment zone. 
Mayor Emanuel Cleaver II of Kansas City then discussed an agreement for 
Harley-Davidson to employ residents of the empowerment zone, with the 
wage supplement program as an incentive.]

    The President. You see, I think this will be very valuable in--I 
believe that there will be a movement, particularly a smaller scale, 
like 300 and down, manufacturing facilities back to urban areas in the 
next 10 years, because I think the property will be cheaper, and I think 
the work force will be there. And I think if you have a serious welfare-
to-work effort like this, you can really make it work.
    Between the funds we're trying to give the cities to clean up 
environmentally polluted areas to make them attractive for new 
investments again, the so-called brownfields initiatives, and we're 
going to try to triple the number of these empowerment zones--I believe 
that you can have this story repeat itself.
    It's going to change your image, Mayor, with Harley-Davidson here; 
you're going to have to wear one of those neat jackets. [Laughter] It 
will be a major lifestyle change for you.

[Mr. McQueen, Representative Karen McCarthy, and Gayle Hobbs, executive 
director, Local Investment Commission, discussed public-private 
partnerships and the program's benefits for the community.]

    The President. The primary purpose of this bill, in many ways, was 
to end the waiver process and then to have some standards of performance 
for the States so they had to actually get it in gear. But the worst 
mistake that could possibly be made would be to supplant what used to be 
the Federal rules and regulations with just a State bureaucracy, be- 

[[Page 1697]]

cause this plan, this program had been run by the States for years; it 
hadn't been run by the Federal Government. And the States have basically 
had control over the benefit amount while the Federal Government has set 
the rules governing who could qualify and making sure that people got 
the food stamps and the Medicaid and the other stuff.

    So what I see as absolutely imperative is that every State is going 
to have to do what has been done here. You're going to have to devolve 
the ultimate decisionmaking to community groups that involve employers, 
the nonprofits, and the people who are going to be the ultimate 
customers of this system, people who are going to move from welfare to 
work.
    And this model, this kind of encounter we're having here, this is 
going to have to occur in every community in the country if we're going 
to meet the very ambitious goals of the bill. I think we can do it, but 
only if we do it in this way.
    And I would point out, 2 years ago I went to Vermont to talk to the 
Governors, and I asked every Governor to ask me for a waiver to do what 
Missouri was doing and what only--at that time, only Oregon and Missouri 
had asked to do. Now, since then, Wisconsin has asked to do this, before 
the welfare reform bill, and one other State, I believe--Vermont, in a 
modified way. But every State in the country can now do this, do what 
you're doing, and therefore involve people like Tom and Bruce. And it's 
the only way it's going to work.

[Participants described how the program addressed the wide-ranging needs 
of welfare recipients.]

    The President. That's a wonderful story. Let me just say again--I 
mean, I know I'm beating this to death, but it's a point I want to make 
to the American people. The act I signed is the beginning of welfare 
reform. What it does is it creates very strong incentives for every 
State to, in effect, empower communities, to develop community-based 
systems like this.
    There is no way even a State, much less the National Government, can 
know how much money any community needs for transportation--that depends 
on what the facts of the community--much less whether there should be a 
program for helping people with their dental or clothing needs or 
anything like that. This has got to be pushed down to the grassroots 
level, where community people who care about their community and care 
about the people that they come in contact with as individuals, can 
fashion solutions that will work. And I think now you've got the tools 
to do it, and we've just got to make sure we do it right.
    But I just wish everybody in American were as far along as you all 
are. I want to say a special world of thanks to Tom and Bruce, too, for 
participating, and all of the other employers that you represent here 
today.
    My instinct--I have two feelings about this that a lot of the 
skeptics who were worried about me signing this bill didn't. I believe 
the business community's response will be overwhelming, because I think 
most people in business would like to end the way the welfare system has 
worked and would be willing to do their part in doing it. That's what I 
believe. I think most business people will stretch a little, especially 
if we're at least sharing the cost of early training and development of 
work habits. And I have hardly ever met anybody on welfare who did not 
want to get off once they believed that they could, you know? So you all 
have strengthened my faith and optimism.

[Various participants expressed their appreciation for the President's 
support.]

    The President. Now, in the next couple of days, when people all over 
America start calling you and wanting their addresses and everything, I 
don't want you all to be put out with me. I want you to help them do 
just what you did.
    Participant. We'll do it.
    Participant. We'll keep moving.
    The President. Thank you.
    Q. Could I follow up on something you mentioned? Senator Dole says 
on the family medical leave that it's another example of big Government 
meddling where it doesn't belong--[inaudible].
    The President. Well, I just disagree. Look at the evidence. Twelve 
million people have taken a little time off when a baby was born

[[Page 1698]]

or when a parent was sick, and small businesses are exempt because of 
the problems with work schedules. And the American economy has been 
growing like crazy since we've passed the family and medical leave law. 
We've had a record number of new businesses started; we have had 10\1/2\ 
million new jobs. There is no compelling evidence that this has been bad 
for the economy.
    Anything you do that helps people to succeed at home and at work is 
a good thing to do. That's basically what welfare reform is all about. 
It's just what Tom says: We've got to find a way for every American to 
have a chance to succeed at work and at home, and that's what family and 
medical leave was all about.
    So I just simply--I just respectfully disagree. I think we were 
right to do it. I think those who opposed us have been proved wrong by 
the evidence. And I think a very modest and limited expansion--it's like 
anything else, you could overdo it, but we're talking about a very 
modest and limited expansion, directed toward helping people go to their 
parent-teacher conferences and go to regular doctor's appointments. It's 
not a big, radical step, it's pro-family and pro-work.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:50 a.m. at the Full Employment Council. 
In his remarks, he referred to former welfare recipient Birdella Smith; 
Tom Davidson, president, Davidson Archives; and Bruce Gershon, 
president, Arrow Fabricare.