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Romney Campaign Press Release - A Not-So-Happy Anniversary For Welfare Reform

August 21, 2012

"Sixteen years ago today, President Bill Clinton signed bipartisan welfare reforms, claiming it was 'clearly better to go to work' than to stay on welfare. But don't expect President Obama to mark the occasion after just last month gutting the historic work requirements. The Romney-Ryan Plan will restore work to welfare and jumpstart the economy to create 12 million new jobs for middle-class families." – Andrea Saul, Romney Campaign Spokesperson

Sixteen Years Ago Today, President Clinton Signed Welfare Reforms That Ended "Welfare As We Know It":

President Clinton, On August 22, 1996: "The New Bill Restores America's Basic Bargain Of Providing Opportunity And Demanding, In Return, Responsibility." CLINTON: "The new bill restores America's basic bargain of providing opportunity and demanding, in return, responsibility. It provides $14 billion for child care, $4 billion more than the present law does. It is good because without the assurance of child care it's all but impossible for a mother with young children to go to work. It requires States to maintain their own spending on welfare reform and gives them powerful performance incentives to place more people on welfare in jobs. It gives States the capacity to create jobs by taking money now used for welfare checks and giving it to employers as subsidies as incentives to hire people." (President Bill Clinton, Remarks, Washington, D.C., 8/22/96)

President Clinton: "It Is Now Clearly Better To Go To Work Than To Stay On Welfare—Clearly Better." CLINTON: "It is now clearly better to go to work than to stay on welfare—clearly better. Because of actions taken by the Congress in this session, it is clearly better. And what we have to do now is to make that work a reality." (President Bill Clinton, Remarks, Washington, D.C., 8/22/96)

President Clinton Hailed The Legislation As Providing "An Historic Opportunity To End Welfare As We Know It" And Transform Welfare To Promote "The Fundamental Values Of Work." "Today, I have signed into law H.R. 3734, the 'Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.' While far from perfect, this legislation provides an historic opportunity to end welfare as we know it and transform our broken welfare system by promoting the fundamental values of work, responsibility, and family. This Act honors my basic principles of real welfare reform. It requires work of welfare recipients, limits the time they can stay on welfare, and provides child care and health care to help them make the move from welfare to work." (President Bill Clinton, Statement, 8/22/96)

And What Was Barack Obama Saying After President Clinton Signed Welfare Reform? He Claimed He Was "Not A Huge Supporter" Of The Reforms:

State Senator Barack Obama, In 1998: "The 1996 Legislation I Did Not Entirely Agree With And Probably Would Have Voted Against At The Federal Level." OBAMA: "One of the good things about welfare reform, which the 1996 legislation I did not entirely agree with and probably would have voted against at the federal level." (Barack Obama, Remarks, Chicago, IL, 10/19/98)

State Senator Barack Obama, In 1998: "I Was Not A Huge Supporter Of The Federal Plan That Was Signed In 1996." OBAMA: "You know, let me say one thing about this, because I've been very active in drafting the state of Illinois' welfare proposal and thinking about how do you craft these coalitions. I was not a huge supporter of the federal plan that was signed in 1996." (Barack Obama, Remarks, Washington, DC, 6/8/98)

It's No Surprise President Obama Gutted The Clinton-Era Welfare Reforms After Taking Office:

The Obama Administration's Welfare Changes "Quietly Opened The Door For States To Seek Major Changes" In Work Requirements. "The Obama administration has quietly opened the door for states to seek major changes in how they meet federal welfare-to-work requirements for some of their poorest residents, and leading conservatives are crying foul." (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, "Obama Administration Opens The Door For States To Seek Major Changes In Welfare-To-Work Law," The Associated Press, 7/13/12)

Richmond-Times Dispatch, On President Obama's Welfare Changes: "If You Want To Get More People To Work, You Don't Loosen The Requirements — You Tighten Them." "Nuts. If you want to get more people to work, you don't loosen the requirements — you tighten them. That's why, as critics of the new waivers point out, the work requirement of the 1996 law was 'specifically designed not to be waivable.' The 1996 law allows waivers for certain provisions — such as state reporting rules — but the 'mandatory work requirements' contain no waiver provisions. ... The administration is simply ignoring the law." (Editorial, "Welfare Reform: Gutted," Richmond Times-Dispatch, 8/15/12)

Detroit News: President Obama "Tossed Out The Clinton-Era Welfare Reform That Required Able-Bodied Aid Recipients To Work." "Democrats and Republicans alike should be distressed by President Barack Obama's disregard for constitutional limits on his authority. The president's flouting of the separation of powers risks turning this country into something other than a representative democracy. Congress should move in a bipartisan rebuke of Obama's overreach before he neuters that institution. In a blatant challenge to the legislative branch, Obama by executive order tossed out the Clinton-era welfare reform that required able-bodied aid recipients to work, saying the federal government will no longer enforce the law." (Editorial, "Obama's Power Grab Flouts Constitution," Detroit News, 8/6/12)

But The Verdict Is In – The Bipartisan Clinton-Era Work Requirements Were A Historic Success:

Welfare Reforms Passed By President Clinton And Republicans In Congress "Reduced The Number Of People Receiving Monthly Cash Benefits From 12.2 Million To 4.2 Million." "During the past decade, welfare reform, known as TANF, or Temporary Aid to Needy Families, has reduced the number of people receiving monthly cash benefits from 12.2 million to 4.2 million." (Steve Levin, "10 Years Of Welfare Reform Assessed," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/16/12)

"The Earnings Of Women Who Left Welfare Rose By More Than Their Cash Assistance Fell: On Balance Their Net Incomes Increased By About 25%..." "The earnings of women who left welfare rose by more than their cash assistance fell: on balance their net incomes increased by about 25% in real terms over the first few years, according to Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution, a centrist think-tank." ("From Welfare To Workfare," The Economist, 7/26/06)

One Year After Clinton-Era Welfare Reforms Passed, Welfare Enrollment Declines Were "The Deepest And Most Sustained In U.S. History." "One year after a far-reaching welfare reform law ended 60 years of guaranteed support for the poor, the Clinton administration released figures yesterday showing public assistance rolls continuing to decline sharply with the percentage of people on welfare at its lowest level since 1970. ... The decline, at a rate of 200,000 a month, is the deepest and most sustained in U.S. history." (John F. Harris And Judith Havemann, "Welfare Rolls Continue Sharp Decline," The Washington Post, 8/13/97)

In The First Ten Years Of Welfare Reform, "Caseloads Declined By 54 Percent" And "Sixty Percent Of Mothers Who Left Welfare Found Work." "In the past decade, welfare rolls have dropped substantially, from 12.2 million in 1996 to 4.5 million today. At the same time, caseloads declined by 54 percent. Sixty percent of mothers who left welfare found work, far surpassing predictions of experts." (Bill Clinton, Op-Ed, "How We Ended Welfare, Together," The New York Times, 8/22/06)

Mitt Romney, Romney Campaign Press Release - A Not-So-Happy Anniversary For Welfare Reform Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/303079

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