THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 14, 1995 TAG: 9509140358
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
Senate Republicans intent on denying extra benefits to welfare mothers who have more babies were dealt a powerful defeat Wednesday when GOP moderates and Democrats killed the ``family cap'' from the Senate welfare bill.
Behind the 66-34 vote were arguments that denying benefits would unfairly punish children and could encourage some pregnant women to seek abortions - but probably not significantly reduce the number of children born into welfare dependence.
In a 76-24 vote, senators also rejected a ban on cash benefits to unwed teenage mothers.
The legislation, which Sen. Majority leader Bob Dole of Kansas said would probably go to a final vote today, would engineer the most extensive welfare changes in six decades. It is a cornerstone of the GOP effort to transfer authority from the federal governments to the states.
During debate on the family cap, some senators were swayed by arguments that states should decide how to design their own welfare programs, and could include a family cap of their own.
``We should not mandate something when we don't know what we are doing,'' said Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J.
Wednesday's family-cap vote, on an amendment sponsored by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., rejected a compromise that Dole reached with conservativefamily-advocacy groups and U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, a GOP rival for the presidency. Twenty Republicans joined all 46 of the Senate's Democrats in opposing the family cap.
While the vote is not likely to prevent the passage of the overall bill today, it could add fuel to presidential politics. Both Dole and Gramm are struggling to appeal to social conservatives.
``This amendment breaks the deal that we have negotiated,'' said Gramm, who had announced the compromise to big cheers from Christian Coalition members last weekend. ``It basically eliminates the glue that held the compromise together.'' Christian Coalition leader expects reversal of vote
But social conservative groups said they are counting on Dole - who voted to keep the family cap - to get the provision back into the bill to be sent to the White House.
Ralph Reed, president of the Christian Coalition, said he expects the provisions to be reinserted in the welfare bill when House and Senate members meet to work out their differences.
``Our view is despite our temporary setback in the Senate, we expect the final bill to include a family cap,'' he said. He said the coalition also hopes that the denial of benefits to teen mothers will be included.
``For us welfare reform isn't just a fiscal issue - it's a moral issue,'' Reed said. He added that reducing federal subsidies to women who have babies out of wedlock will strengthen the American family.
Dole had appealed to the Senate to keep the family cap provision by stressing how difficult it was to get an agreement on the illegitimacy issue. ``I think the bill has struck the right balance,'' he said.
Conservatives also had pushed to deny benefits to teen mothers, but Dole had not included that in the bill. An effort by Sen. Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C., to add it was voted down Wednesday.
``The root cause of the tragedy of welfare is illegitimacy and the rise of out-of-wedlock births,'' Faircloth said. Democrats will push for more child-care funding
Among the critical issues still to be considered is whether Democrats will succeed in adding more money for child care. Democrats are insisting that, without adequate child-care funding, Congress will fail in its primary goal of moving millions of welfare mothers into the work force.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who earlier this week lost a bid to set aside $11 billion for child care, was negotiating with Republicans on Wednesday to find bipartisan support for a smaller pot of money for child care.
The family cap provision would have denied the average $39 increase in monthly benefits a mother receives for every child. States would have had the option of providing vouchers for goods and services instead.
New Jersey is the only state that has had that family cap in place for the past two years. Results of the program are mixed: One study shows no decrease in births to welfare mothers; another shows no impact; yet another found a slight increase in abortions.
But some conservatives see the experiment as worth mandating.
``Some senators just don't understand the incredible frustration of ordinary Americans at a welfare system that will give you financial assistance for bad behavior,'' said Kristi Hamrick of the conservative Family Research Council.
Some senators who voted against the cap insisted nonetheless that they want to change the welfare system and curb the increase in out-of-wedlock births.
``The question is how do you solve it,'' said Sen. John Breaux, D-La. ``Do you solve it by punishing the children?''
But Gramm insisted, ``There can be no welfare reform without dealing with the issue of illegitimacy.'' MEMO: This story was compiled from Knight-Ridder News Service, The Washington
Post and The Los Angeles Times.
KEYWORDS: WELFARE REFORM by CNB