THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. Please be seated.
Thanks for coming, and welcome to the White House. I'm especially
pleased to welcome the -- our fine fellow citizens who have lifted
themselves out of poverty. I welcome you all here. You're fantastic
examples of what is possible in America, what we hope happens in
America.
I particularly want to thank Lorey Wilson and Pamela Hedrick. Each
of them have incredible success stories, and Pam has agreed to share
her story with us. I want to thank her family for being here, as
well. Both women show us the dignity that comes with work and the
great hopes that have been realized through the welfare reform.
The welfare law of 1996 has enabled millions of Americans to build
better lives -- better lives for themselves and better lives for
their families, and hence, better lives for our country. The time has
come to strengthen that law, and that's what I want to talk about
today.
Leading the charge will be Department of Health and Human Services
leader, Tommy Thompson. And I appreciate Tommy. Tommy, when he was
the governor of Wisconsin, was on the leading edge of welfare change.
He was an innovative governor; he's an innovative Cabinet officer, as
well.
And I appreciate Elaine Chao for being here, as well. She's
Secretary of the Department of Labor. When we're interested in jobs we
think about the Department of Labor. So, thank you for coming,
Elaine. (Laughter.) I appreciate your work.
I appreciate Bob Woodson for being here -- Woody. Thanks for
coming. He's the Director of the National Center for Neighborhood
Enterprise. He's one of these innovative thinkers about how to best
help people help themselves in America, make sure that hope extends to
all neighborhoods. Not just some neighborhoods, but every neighborhood
in our country.
I appreciate Rodney Carroll, who is the President and CEO of the
Welfare-To-Work Partnership. His job is to gather up people who are
willing to help people go from welfare to work. And he's done a
magnificent job. I remember well our meeting in Chicago, with the "Big
Brown" UPS, which is one of the leading companies in America to --
helping people find the dignity of work. And we sat there on the stage
and heard the stories of those who have gone from welfare to work.
It must have made you feel good, Rodney, because you had a lot to
do with helping these individuals. So thanks for coming.
John Gregory is the President of TEACH, The Enrichment Association
of Community Healing. I appreciate John being here, and all the rest
of you for coming. Welcome. Glad you're here.
The reforms of the 1990s recognized that people on welfare are not
charges of the state; they're citizens of this country, with abilities
and aspirations. Both parties in Congress realize that welfare system
as we knew it sapped the soul and drained the spirit from our
citizens. They came together, the people of both parties, to put an
end to the culture of dependency that welfare had created.
The obligation of government did not end with just mailing of a
check -- and that's important for our citizens to realize. Men and
women deserved a chance to learn new skills. That was an obligation of
government, to help people learn, to use their talent so that they
could realize dreams; to gain the fulfillment of sense of purpose that
comes with striving and working and providing for their own families.
In the seven years since welfare was reformed, millions of
Americans have shared in this experience. Their lives and our country
are better off. Today, more than 2 million fewer families are on
welfare -- 2 million fewer than in 1996. It's a reduction of 54
percent. That's a number, but behind each number is a life. And
that's important to recognize. In Washington, we spend a lot of time
talking about numbers. And that's okay. It's kind of a measuring
tool. But we've also got to remember, with each number is somebody's
aspiration and hope.
During the period from 1996 to 2001, the percentage of welfare
recipients who are working tripled. That's incredibly positive news.
According to the most recent census data, the poverty rate amongst
Hispanic children has reached the lowest level in over 20 years. The
poverty rate among African American children is the lowest ever
recorded. There's a correlation, it seems like to me.
Behind these statistics are great personal achievements. Adversity
has been overcome and lives have changed forever. I met people all
around our country who can share their stories of hard work and
fighting odds that have been stacked against them. Moms and dads who
are -- battled addiction and have overcome addiction. Folks who have
had trouble holding a job and found out that they could and realized
their dreams.
The welfare law is a success because it puts government on the side
of personal responsibility, and it has helped people change their life
for the better -- helped people realize their dreams; helped people
help themselves. That's the key aspect of the -- one of the key
principles of the law that makes a lot of sense, that has helped make
this law effective.
Last year, the House of Representatives passed legislation to build
on the successes of the 1996 welfare reform law. They did so because
they want more Americans to know the pride and success that come from
hard work. The law passed the House -- that passed the House
required 40 hours of work each week. There was a serious requirement
for work. Of the 40 hours, 16 of those could be used for job training
or education, and, when needed, treatment for addiction. In other
words, the 40 hours of work was -- part of that 40 hours was helping
people help themselves. And that's an important aspect of any law that
encourages people to go from welfare to work.
The House bill set an ambitious goal for states to have 70 percent
of the welfare recipients working within a five-year period of time.
We encourage them to think that way because we believe in setting a
high bar. We believe in the best. We don't accept mediocrity. Some
say it's asking too much. But a lot of those voices were the same ones
that said the 1996 law was flawed. In other words, they have low --
low expectations for what is possible in this society.
Skepticism is refuted every single day, however, when we meet the
hard-won successes from former welfare recipients. That's the best
case that we can make -- those of us who believe in expecting the
best and working hard to achieve the best.
We've got new data this month refuting skepticism, as well. A
study from the University of Michigan shows that in the states with the
strongest work incentives, single parents have seen larger increases in
income than in states with weaker work requirements.
Work is the key to success in helping families lift themselves out
of poverty. It's the key to success for improving the lives of our
children. And the strong incentives in the House bill will encourage
work. Unfortunately, the Senate never was able to act on the House
bill, so it died.
Today I want to remind the new Congress we have an obligation to
reauthorize the welfare bill, welfare reform, to make it work. And so
I'm calling upon both Houses to get after it. Let's get a new bill up,
a bill that -- in which the House and Senate have got to work closely
to achieve the objectives that we have just set out, the idea of
getting people to work, make them less dependent upon government, to
help people in need, so they can realize their dreams.
I also want Congress to provide $17 billion a year to help the
states run their welfare programs, and $4.8 billion a year to help pay
for child care. In other words, there's a funding obligation that goes
with the idea of setting high goal -- high standards and strong
goals. And since the case loads have fallen by half, the states will
now have twice the resources spent on welfare and job training and
child care.
See, back in 1996, they were spending $7,000 per family to help
people get to work. Under this budget request, the expenditure will be
$16,000 per family. If $7,000 was good enough in 1996, it seems like
$16,000 is good enough into '03 to help people get ahead.
It's important for Congress to authorize funding not just for next
year, but for the next five years, so that people who are working to
help people understand there's a steady stream of funds that will help
with the planning.
It's also important for Congress to work with us to get a
faith-based initiative going. I did a lot through an executive order
the other day, that said faith programs will not be discriminated
against at the federal level. But the faith-based initiative is a part
of welfare reform. It's one thing to help a person get the job skills
necessary, but a lot of times we need to help people with their hearts
and their souls. And the only place to find that help is in the
faith-based community. And so, therefore, I'm still going to stay
strong on the faith-based initiative, because I know of the hope and
promise found in our churches and synagogues and mosques -- hope and
promise that can't be duplicated at the federal level.
And as we encourage work and welfare, we've also got to encourage
growth in our economy. I'm aware of that. And that's why I introduced
a plan to build on the economic momentum we have going for us. We've
come out of recession. The enemy hit us and that hurt our economy. We
had a few of our corporate citizens thought they could fudge the
numbers, not tell the truth, so there's a -- kind of startled our
investor class, and the American people were shocked by the fact that
too many citizens weren't telling the truth. So I signed a law that's
going to hold people to account, and we're after them. For those who
have cooked the books, there's going to be a consequence. We're
regaining the confidence in the numbers now being put forth.
We're slowly but surely coming out of the three hits to our
economy, and we need to do more. And that's why I've argued the more
people have in their pocket, the more they're likely to spend. And
when they spend money, it's more likely to provide jobs for people.
It's the strength of our economy. And it's important for Congress to
work with me to encourage consumers to have more money, investors to
have more money, to take care of the aged in their retirement. And the
plans I laid out recognize that the money we spend here isn't the
government's money, it's the people's money. And the more money the
people have in their pocket, the more likely this economy is going to
grow. And as the economy grows, it's more likely we're going to have
success in helping people.
And the other thing we can do is to do a better job for unemployed
Americans through what I call Reemployment Accounts. These accounts
will provide up to $3,000 per person to help pay for training, child
care, moving expenses or other costs of finding a job. It is a --
provides incentive for people who are looking for work. If you find a
job before the $3,000 runs out, then you get to keep the remainder, the
balance. In other words, it's additional money to help people find
work. It's money on top of the current system.
It's money that -- that will recognize that power is best when
it's disbursed to the people we're trying to help. It will help states
on the front lines of where there's unemployment, or chronic
unemployment. It's a good idea. I hope Congress acts as quickly as
possible.
I mean, the idea is that we want to help people. That's what we
ought to do in America. We want to help people who, in this land of
plenty, have overcome some incredibly tough times, because of the lack
of things -- sometimes the lack of love; sometimes the lack of help;
sometimes the lack of education. In a land where we've got an awful
lot, there are still a lot of people who hurt, too many who hurt. And
the role of government is to help those good folks realize their
potential. Everybody has got potential. Everybody has got worth.
Everybody has got value. And the role of this government is to help
those people realize their value and worth.
Today we've got Pamela Hedrick with us today. She can talk about
this better than I can talk about it, because she's what we call a
success story -- somebody who is willing to share her story with the
good folks here in the White House.
So, Pamela, thank you for coming. I look forward to hearing what
you have to say. (Applause.)
* * * *
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. For those of you who
have got some influence up on Capitol Hill, remind them it works. God
bless. (Applause.)