Natalie Gonnella
Earlier in March, Congressman Jim Jordan spoke with ConservativeHome's Ryan Streeter about the recently introduced Welfare Reform Act of 2011, which "builds upon the successful 1996 welfare reform effort, which focused on only one of 77 welfare programs, by extending the same work-oriented policy to other means-tested federal programs."
In a statement on Friday via his congressional website, freshman Representative Tim Scott, who has signed on as a principal cosponsor of the legislation, discussed his own support for the bill and its "smarter approach to [breaking] the cycle of poverty." Here's what Congressman Scott had to say:
I am proud to be a principal co-sponsor of the Welfare Reform Act of 2011 and will work with my colleagues to see this measure advance through the House. This legislation builds upon the success of the 1996 reform that utilized a work-oriented policy to establish Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), by expanding it to the Food Stamp program. It also requires full disclosure of welfare spending totals in the President’s Budget.
In addition to implementing a spending cap at the level of 2007, the bill offers incentives for states to increase self-sufficiency with a grant program, funded through other spending cuts contained therein, to reward them for the number of families determined to be above the poverty line. I fully recognize the number of Americans currently struggling to escape the bonds of poverty, and as such, emphasize that the spending caps contained in this legislation become effective on the first fiscal year after the unemployment rate is 6.5% or less.
We have seen welfare spending continue to rise dramatically, while the number of Americans living at or below the poverty level increases. Programs such as those contained in the Welfare Reform Act of 2011 seek to break the cycle of poverty and offer a path to self-reliance, and with it, self-respect
Comments