THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much for that warm
welcome, and thank you for your kind introduction,
Tommy. Tommy, as Bob Woodson noted, was on the leading edge
of welfare reform in the state of Wisconsin. And the people
of Wisconsin were better off for it. And fortunately he's
agreed to come to Washington, D.C., to serve an incredibly important
position as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. And
the American people are going to be better off for his leadership, as
well. (Applause.)
I appreciate Bob Woodson's spirit. I like to call Bob a
social entrepreneur. And there's a lot of social
entrepreneurs here in this room. And I want to thank you for caring
about your communities. I had the privilege and honor of
meeting with some neighborhood healers here a little
earlier -- soldiers in the armies of compassion,
people whose lives were one time dark and hopeless, who now see a
bright and clear future, because of faith, and are willing to share
that future with others.
It was a powerful meeting for me. I sometimes get
encapsulated in a bubble. It is important for me to, as
often as I can, to hear the true stories of America. It
reminds me of the strength of our country, and the strength
of the country is in the hearts and souls of compassionate
citizens. So thank you all very much for sharing your
stories with me today. (Applause.)
I see that we've got some members of the United States Congress
here. I see a senator, a couple House members. I want to
thank you all for coming. I appreciate you taking time out
of your busy schedules to come and to hear what I hope happens when it
comes to the welfare bill, its reauthorization. I'm really
honored you took time.
And I also want to thank a couple of my governor
buddies. I see the governors of Wisconsin, Colorado and
Tennessee are here. You all are awfully kind to
come. Thank you for being here, as well. We
appreciate your presence. (Applause.)
I also want to thank Curtis Watkins. Curtis is a social
entrepreneur, as well. He started the East Capitol Center
for Change and provides support and care to countless
lives. Curtis, thank you for your time, and thank you for
what you do. See, this is something government can't start
-- we can try, but we're not very good about inventing
programs such as this. This program was invented because
somebody loved their neighbor as much as they loved
themselves. And, as a result, there is a program -- programs
here which work on crime prevention and substance abuse treatment.
Listen, there's all kinds of ways to treat substance. I
understand that. But one sure way to help, one sure way to
help somebody kick the habit is to introduce them to
faith. (Applause.)
Curtis' program has got mentoring and after school activities.
Mentoring programs are so important, because it gives somebody a chance
to say to a young child, "I love you. America belongs to you just as
much as it belongs to anybody else."
There's bible studies here, there's job training programs here,
there's forums to improve parenting skills and to strengthen marriage.
This organization was built on a simple and powerful
principle: every life has equal value, and no life is beyond
hope or help. This conviction motivates thousands all across
our country, and this conviction must always be reflected in the
policies of our government.
Senator Hubert Humphrey once said that the moral test of a
government is how it treats those in the shadows of life. He
was talking about the needy and the sick and the handicapped.
I believe Americans in need are not problems; they are our
neighbors. They're not strangers; they are citizens of our
country. And to live up to our national ideals, ideals of
equality and justice, every American of every background must have
access to opportunity. (Applause.)
We must never be content with islands of despair in the midst of a
nation of promise. We want all Americans to believe in the
potential of their own lives and the promise of their own country.
So today I'm outlining the next steps of welfare reform, the next
actions we must take to build a more just and generous
nation. America began a war on poverty more than three
decades ago. A story of good intention, but conflicted
results. There were important successes, no doubt about it,
there were some good successes. Seniors were lifted out of
poverty. Poor families got basic health
care. Disadvantaged children were given a head start in
life.
Yet, many Americans, in Bob Woodson's words, were injured by the
helping hand. The welfare system became an enemy of
individual effort and responsibility, with dependence passed from one
generation to the next. Between 1965 and 1995, federal and state
spending on poor and low income families increased from around $40
billion to more than $350 billion a year.
Yet, during the same 30-year period we made virtually no progress
-- no progress -- in reducing child poverty. And the number
of children born out of wedlock grew from one in 13 to one in
three. By the mid-1990s, few denied there was need for
change. In sweeping reforms passed by Congress, welfare
benefits were transferred into temporary help, not a permanent way of
life. The new system honors work, by requiring work, and
helps people find jobs.
States are required to promote independence, and they are given the
flexibility to seek that goal, in new ways, with dollars that were once
used for welfare payments, for example, now being used for child care,
and other ways to help working families.
Critics initially called these changes brutal and
mean-spirited. Yet, the results of reform have proven them
wrong. Many lives have been dramatically
improved. Since 1996, welfare case loads dropped by more
than half. Today, 5.4 million fewer people live in poverty
than in 1996, including 2.6 million fewer children. Child
poverty for African American children is at its lowest level
ever. For the first time in generations, the out-of-wedlock
birthrate has leveled off, and the unwed teen birthrate has declined
since the mid 1990s.
Many families understandably report financial difficulties in their
lives after welfare. Yet, a majority also say that their
lives are better. Many are learning it is more rewarding to be a
responsible citizen than a welfare client; it is better to be a
breadwinner respected by your family.
Sherrie Jordan, a mother of four children and a former welfare
recipient living in Buffalo, New York, described her experience this
way: It's overwhelming. I'm very happy. There
aren't many words to describe it. I'm looking forward to
being financially independent. I can do it myself now.
Sherrie and millions of others are good people facing a tough
climb. They are gaining self-confidence. They are earning
the respect of their fellow citizens and their nation.
Some analysts try to dismiss all these gains as the product of good
economic times. Yet, we have had good economic times before
and the number of people on welfare went up. Beginning in
the mid-1960s, welfare caseloads often increased, even as the economy
grew and unemployment fell.
Overall caseloads increased substantially over the last 30
years. But thanks to the 1996 welfare reform legislation,
the increases have ended. Welfare reform in 1996 was good and sound
and compassionate public policy. It passed because leaders of both
political parties agreed on what needed to be done -- and we need that
same spirit of bipartisanship today in Washington, D.C., as we address
this issue.
We are encouraged by the initial results of welfare reform, but
we're not content. We ended welfare as we've known it, yet
it is not a post-poverty America. Child poverty is still too
high. Too many families are strained and fragile and
broken. Too many Americans still have not found work and the
purpose it brings.
Because these needs continue, our work is not done. We
will continue a determined assault on poverty in this
country. Later this year, the 1996 welfare law must be
reauthorized by the United States Congress. I have proposed
spending more than $17 billion a year on welfare for years 2003 to
2007. These funds will be provided to states through block
grants, giving them the flexibility to use the funds for their most
pressing needs. The budget I submitted will continue to
maintain historically high levels of child care funding.
Yet, my administration will do more than spend money. We
will pursue four important goals to continue transforming welfare in
the lives of those that it helped. We will strengthen work
requirements. We must promote strong families. We
will give states more flexibility and we will show compassion to those
in need.
First, we will strengthen the work requirements for those on
welfare. Work is the pathway to independence and
self-respect. Yet, because of a quirk in the 1996 law,
states on average must require work of only 5 percent of the adults
receiving welfare. This is certainly not what Congress had
in mind when it wrote the reforms in 1996. So I'm
recommending that the law be changed, and every state be required
within five years to have 70 percent of the welfare recipients working,
so that more Americans know the independence and the dignity of work.
Welfare recipients must spend at least 40 hours a week in work, and
preparing for work. Because many adults on welfare need new
skills, my plan will allow states to combine work with up to days each
week of education or job training. So in other words, it's a
combination of working and training. And for people who need
intensive short-term help, our proposal offers three months of
full-time drug rehabilitation, or three months of full-time job
training. And adolescent's
mothers -- adolescent mothers can meet their work
requirements by attending high school.
At the heart of all these proposals is a single commitment to
return an ethic of work to an important place in all American
lives. Secondly, we will work to strengthen
marriage. As we reduce welfare case loads, we must improve
the lives of children. And the most effective, direct way to
improve the lives of children is to encourage the stability of American
families. (Applause.)
Across America, no doubt about it, single mothers do heroic work.
They have the toughest job in our country. Raising children
by themselves is an incredibly hard job. In many cases,
their lives and their children lives would be better if their fathers
had lived up to their responsibilities. (Applause.)
Statistics tell us that children from two parent families are less
likely to end up in poverty, drop out of school, become addicted to
drugs, have a child out of wedlock, suffer abuse or become a violent
criminal and end up in prison. Building and preserving
families are not always possible, I recognize that. But they
should always be our goal.
So my administration will give unprecedented support to
strengthening marriages. (Applause.) Many good
programs help couples who want to get married and stay
married. (Applause.) Isn't that
right? We just talked about one such
program. Premarital education programs can increase
happiness in marriage and reduce divorce by teaching couples how to
resolve conflict, how to improve communication and, most importantly,
how to treat each other with respect. (Applause.)
There are also programs for couples with serious problems --
alcoholism, infidelity or gambling. Trained mentor couples
who have had experience -- who have experienced severe marital problems
themselves now teach other couples how to repair their own
marriages. Using this approach, one national program reports
being able to save up to 70 percent of very troubled marriages.
Under the plan that I'm submitting, up to $300 million a year will
be available to support innovation and to find programs which are most
effective. You see, strong marriages and stable families are
incredibly good for children. And stable families should be
the central goal of American welfare policy.
The welfare system can honor the family in other
ways. Under current welfare law, state governments can keep
some of a father's child support payments to defray the costs of
welfare. I'll give states financial incentives to give more
of a father's child support directly to his children, instead of
putting it into the welfare system. (Applause.) Mothers and
children will be better off, and the children will see that their
father supports and cares for them.
I'm also proposing $135 million for abstinence education programs.
(Applause.) Abstinence is the surest way and the only
completely effective way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually
transmitted diseases. (Applause.) When our children face a
choice between self-restraint and self-destruction, government should
not be neutral. Government should not sell children short by
assuming they are incapable of acting responsibly. We must promote the
good choices. (Applause.)
Third, we will give states greater flexibility in spending welfare
money. Right now, there are hundreds --
hundreds -- of federal government programs to help
low-income Americans achieve better lives. Unfortunately,
recipients often find the different rules very
confusing. Conflicting regulations are keeping people from
getting the help they need when they need it.
My proposal will provide waivers to allow states to completely
redesign how many federal programs would operate in their
state. Rather than dictate to states how each major welfare
and training program should operate, we must allow states to use their
creativity to build a network of assistance for low-income
families. Americans will get better child care services and
better job training and better housing and better nutrition programs if
states have the flexibility and freedom to explore innovative
ideas. (Applause.)
And, fourth, even as welfare reform proceeds, we must encourage the
essential work of faith-based groups and
charities. (Applause.) Work and independence are
the goals of welfare reform. Yet, compassionate help for an
abandoned child is not a work requirement, it is a loving
mentor. The answer to addiction is not a demand for
independence; it is personal support on the hard road to
recovery. (Applause.)
Charities and faith-based groups fill needs that no welfare system,
no matter how well designed, can possibly fill. Our nation
needs men and women who rescue children from gangs, who tutor children
in failed schools, who visit the sick and the dying. In
times of personal crisis, people do not need the rules of a
bureaucracy; they need the help of a neighbor. (Applause.)
America's neighborhood healers, like the place we are today, are
indispensable, are irreplaceable, and deserve our support. I
support legislation that encourages charitable giving, and ends
discrimination against faith-based organizations that compete for
contracts to provide social services to people who need
help. (Applause.)
Faith-based groups are reclaiming America, block by block, life by
life, from the inside out. We must encourage their work,
without undermining their freedom or their identity or their
purpose. It is time for the United States Senate to pass the
faith-based initiative. The bill's sponsor, Rick Santorum is
here. I appreciate you, Mr. Senator, working
hard. Get it out of the Senate, and get it on my desk for
the good of the American people. (Applause.)
And at the same time, we must recognize that our government has
responsibilities to help people who cannot help themselves; that we've
got a responsibility to help people who need a transition, that need a
helping hand. We've got that responsibility. My
budget reflects that responsibility. And there's one area
that we need to improve help on. We need to restore
nutrition benefits for legal immigrants. (Applause.)
The 1996 reforms imposed a five year ban on most welfare benefits
for new legal immigrants, including a permanent ban on food stamps,
unless immigrants have worked here for 10 years or have become
citizens. We've proposed changing this law so that legal
immigrants receive food stamps after five years; so that those who are
eligible, those who need help, like an elderly immigrant, farm worker,
somebody who has worked hard all his life, and cannot help himself,
ought to get food stamps. Or a legal immigrant who has been
working here for five years and raising a family, and all a sudden gets
laid off and needs a helping hand, ought to get food
stamps. (Applause.)
This nation must show compassion in a time of a person's
need. These are the important goals that I've -- that I want
to talk to Congress about when the welfare re-authorization bill comes
up: work, families, more flexibility to states, and
compassion -- a compassionate welfare system that knows the true
strength of the country lies in the hearts and souls of our fellow
citizens.
We can build on the advances of recent years, confident there's
more progress to be made, and therefore expand the promise of this
nation. More Americans will know the dignity of a
job. More children will find shelter in strong
families. More citizens will gain the tools to succeed in a
free society. And more Americans in need will find love and
hope that can help them rebuild their lives.
Everyone can join in the work of welfare reform by serving a
neighbor. Americans can heed that call in all kinds of ways -- in
local community groups. And if they're really interested,
they can call the USA Freedom Corps, or get on the web site at
usafreedomcorps.org, to find out how you can help, how you can be a
soldier in the armies of compassion, how you can put your good heart to
work, to make America a hopeful and strong and decent country for all
of us.
We've made progress, there's no question the doors the opportunity
that were shut and sealed have now been opened. Ask some of
the folks on the stage here. They had that door slammed in
their face and now it's open and there's a brighter day ahead.
Yet, there is no acceptable level of despair and hopelessness in
America. We will not leave people in need to their own
struggle, and we will not leave them to their own fate.
The success of the past few years should not make us complacent as
a nation. They prove what is possible when we press forward,
and I am determined to press forward to build a single nation of
justice and opportunity.