Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 25, 1995 TAG: 9503270067
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long
The Personal Responsibility Act, cornerstone of the GOP's social agenda, passed 234-199 after four days of debate. Only nine Democrats supported it. All of Virginia's Republicans voted for the bill; all of the state's Democrats voted against it.
Republicans say their program will free the nation's poor from an endless cycle of poverty and put an end to layers of wasteful federal bureaucracy - saving $66 billion in the first five years alone.
``For generations now, we have seen this destructive welfare system stay in place and keep people where they are, a system that is destructive of future self-esteem, destructive of family, destructive of the basic moral fiber that has held this nation together and the work ethic ... that we have been so proud of as Americans,'' said Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where President Clinton is hoping it will be turned into a plan more to his liking.
Clinton issued a statement expressing disappointment that ``instead of joining in a real, bipartisan effort to move people from welfare to work, a narrow partisan Republican majority passed a bill that is weak on work and tough on children.''
Democrats said the plan leaves millions of poor Americans out in the cold and is aimed at freeing money for tax cuts to benefit mainly the well-to-do, not helping those in need.
``Who pays for this gift from Uncle Sam to the privileged few in this country?'' asked Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn. ``Let's take a look at it: $24 billion is donated by poor families with children; food stamp recipients contribute $19 billion; kids who lose school lunches, child care, WIC [the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program] ante up another $12 billion; abused and neglected children pay $2 billion; and legal immigrants contribute about $21 billion.
``The only thing we can be certain of now is that the $70 billion that's going to be taken from the children and the poor of this country will go to the rich. I say to my Republican colleagues: Pick on someone your own size.''
A last-ditch effort by Democrats to embarrass the GOP by making the money they save go to deficit reduction instead of tax cuts failed, 228-205. A liberal Democratic alternative by Rep. Patsy Mink, D-Hawaii, also was rejected.
The GOP bill would toss out 45 social programs and give money to the states in five major block grants to design their own ways of taking care of the poor.
States could not provide cash welfare for unwed teenage mothers and their children or additional cash payments to support children born of parents already on welfare.
Those on welfare would be required to work after two years, and families would be kicked off the welfare rolls after five years. More than 2 million legal immigrants would be barred from most welfare programs.
At the White House, Chief of Staff Leon Panetta called the GOP bill ``a major redistribution of income in the wrong direction.''
President Clinton strongly opposes the bill, Panetta said, and hopes to work with the Senate to improve it.
Debate on the bill was conducted in loaded language - and grew very contentious in the final hours.
Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., in defending the GOP bill, spoke of signs in states reading ``Don't Feed the Alligators,'' and said the signs were put up because alligators can fend for themselves and feed their children if left alone. ``Unnatural feeding and artificial care creates dependency,'' he said.
``Now, people are not alligators, but I submit that with our current handout, nonwork welfare system we've upset the natural order. We've failed to understand simple warning signs. We've created a system of dependency,'' Mica said.
Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., compared those on welfare to wolves the federal government tried to reintroduce into the wild. When it was time to let them out, she said, the wolves wouldn't go.
``What has happened with the wolves, just like what happens with human beings, when you take away their incentive, when you take away their freedom, when you take away their dignity, they have to be provided for,'' Cubin said.
After hours of barbed debate Wednesday in which Democrats hammered the GOP plan as mean and cruel, Republicans tried to change the tune from the start Thursday.
They offered and pushed through a handful of amendments that party leaders had already agreed to back - designed to soften the image of the bill and temper the fiery attacks.
Among them was a measure to add additional money for child support - pushed by Republican women - and another to force states to hold down the costs of infant formula purchases. The House also voted to permit some ill and disabled legal immigrants to receive welfare benefits, although their bill overall could cut some 2 million legal immigrants off the welfare rolls.
The five Republicans voting against the bill were Reps. Jim Bunn of Oregon, Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, Constance Morella of Maryland, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Peter Torkildsen of Massachusetts.
The nine Democrats voting for the bill were Reps. Robert Andrews of New Jersey, Bud Cramer of Alabama, Ralph Hall of Texas, James Hayes of Louisiana, William Lipinski of Illinois, G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery of Mississippi, Charlie Rose of North Carolina, W.J. (Billy) Tauzin of Louisiana, and James Traficant of Ohio.
``Now is the time to sweep this away.''
by CNB