[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 49 (Monday, December 13, 1999)]
[Pages 2517-2518]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

December 4, 1999

    Good morning. Yesterday we crossed a historic threshold with the 
creation of more than 20 million new jobs since January 1993. This is a 
great American achievement and further proof of the health of our 
economy, which now has given us the longest peacetime expansion in our 
Nation's history. Today I want to talk about a group of new workers who, 
just a few short years ago, were virtually locked out of our growing 
economy and their chance at the American dream--the more than one 
million Americans who are now moving from welfare to work every year.
    Seven years ago I asked the American people to join me in ending 
welfare as we know it. In 1996, with bipartisan support, we passed a 
landmark welfare reform bill. Today I am pleased to announce that we've 
cut the rolls by more than half. Fewer Americans are on welfare today 
than at any time since 1969, 30 years ago. We're moving more than a 
million people a year from the welfare rolls to the payrolls, 1.3 
million in 1998 alone. And most of the people who get jobs are keeping 
them. They're getting raises and paying taxes and teaching their 
children to honor the dignity of work.
    We've changed the culture of welfare from one that fostered 
dependence to one that honors and rewards work. That's why I fought to 
create high performance bonuses for States that do the most for parents 
entering the work force. I am pleased to announce the first of those 
awards today.
    Twenty-seven States will share $200 million in bonuses for four 
categories: how many people they've placed in jobs; how well those 
people did at keeping their jobs and improving their wages; the biggest 
improvement in job placement; and the biggest improvement in on-the-job 
success. The States ranked highest were Indiana, Minnesota, Washington, 
and Florida. I congratulate these States for their achievement. If every 
State had performed as well as Indiana in placing workers in jobs, we 
would have helped more than twice as many people go to work last year. I 
challenge every State to invest its welfare reform resources in helping 
people to succeed at work.
    This is not just about numbers. It's about real people. People like 
Wendy Waxler of Washington, DC. Wendy wanted a job, but needed time to 
care for her daughter, who has cerebral palsy. She couldn't afford to 
lose the Medicaid that paid the doctor's bills. Through welfare to work, 
Wendy found a flexible job and kept Medicaid and food stamps, at first. 
Now she and her daughter have health insurance, and Wendy has new 
confidence and new dreams.
    People like Wendy Waxler are an asset our economy simply cannot 
afford to waste. So we must do more to support working families and 
people who are trying to turn their lives around. That's why I've asked 
Congress to raise the minimum wage, so that a full-time job is a real 
ticket out of poverty; it's why we won new resources and will fight for 
more, for our new markets initiative, to make it easier for businesses 
and banks to invest in America's poorest communities; and why I'm asking 
Congress to increase our commitment to quality child care.
    All of us have a moral responsibility to do everything we can to 
ensure that every eligible family receives health care and nutritional 
assistance, so all our children can grow up healthy. I fought hard to 
ensure that the welfare reform law guaranteed these critical supports. 
Now our administration is taking steps to hold States accountable and 
make sure families get the benefits they need. Today I am also 
announcing new performance bonuses like the ones I just awarded for 
States that do the best at enrolling eligible families in Medicaid and 
food stamps.
    Finally, the old welfare system actually weakened families, by 
discouraging couples

[[Page 2518]]

from marrying or living with their children. We want to change that, so 
starting next year there will also be bonuses for States that do the 
most to get poor children into two-parent homes, where we know they have 
the best chance of breaking the cycle of poverty.
    Supporting hard-pressed working families and helping people to make 
the transition from welfare to work isn't just the right thing to do; 
it's also the smart thing. It encourages millions of people to take 
responsibility for their families, their future. In so doing, it expands 
opportunity and strengthens our economy and builds a healthier future 
for all of us.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 7:15 p.m. on December 3 in the Oval 
Office at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on December 4. In 
his remarks, the President referred to the Personal Responsibility and 
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Public Law No. 104-193. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
December 3 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.