Welfare Reform Extension Act of 2005

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1160) to reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant program through June 30, 2005, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1160, the Welfare Reform Extension Act of 2005. Mr. Speaker, this legislation will continue funding for the Temporary Assistance For Needy Families Program and other related programs for 3 months through June 30th, 2005.

Mr. Speaker, this is the ninth extension of these programs we have considered since their original authorization expired at the end of 2002. In 2002 and 2003, the House passed comprehensive welfare reform legislation that would promote more work, provide more child care assistance and help more low-income families become self-sufficient. Unfortunately, our friends in the Senate did not follow suit, and therefore we have been forced to mark time.

Still, we are encouraged that on March 9 the Senate Finance Committee approved a welfare reform bill and hope that this year the full Senate would pass such legislation so that we can make real progress.

It is important that we are here today to continue funding for this remarkably successful program. Since the welfare reform law was passed in 1996, the number of families receiving welfare assistance has fallen more than 60 percent. More than 1.4 million children have been lifted from poverty. However, as we have marked time with this program through a series of short-term extensions, we have seen evidence that the gains made over the years are in jeopardy.

Work among welfare recipients has declined in 3 of the last 4 years. Two million families remain dependent on government assistance, and we are not taking enough steps to strengthen families which will improve child well-being. We must do more to help strong families form and more parents go to work and achieve independence.

Mr. Speaker, on the first day of the 109th Congress I joined the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the majority leader, as well as the committee chairman and subcommittee chairman with jurisdiction over these programs to introduce H.R. 240, the Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2005.

Tomorrow, the Subcommittee on Human Resources, which I chair, will mark up this legislation, the first step in the process of again bringing it to the floor for a vote in the coming weeks. This legislation is nearly identical to the legislation this House passed in 2002 and 2003, with appropriate updates given the passage of time since the last time the House acted.

I look forward to working with all my colleagues to pass this legislation so we can get to conference and get a bill for the President's desk. House Republicans stand with President Bush and support the proposals he has championed that encourage more work and promote stronger families, and we will continue to work towards their implementation.

It is unfortunate, as I have said in the past, that we have not been able to get such comprehensive welfare legislation to the President's desk for his signature. The budgetary pressures this year are a reality we all will work to address, which may involve difficult choices in some of these areas.

Our previous legislation ensured full funding for the TANF program while providing up to $4 billion more for child care so more parents could go to work. With record-high Federal budget deficits, the longer we wait, the harder it will be for us to provide for this level of welfare-to-work programs.

I hope this extension is our last and by June 30 we will have sent long-term reauthorization legislation to the President. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make this a reality. I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation before us today.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, in 2002 and 2003, this House passed long-term reauthorization legislation to encourage more work among welfare recipients and to provide more resources for States to assist low- income families. I am encouraged that last week the Senate Committee on Finance reported a welfare reform bill. Tomorrow, the subcommittee I chair will mark up long-term reauthorization, and it is my hope that over the next few months we can pass long-term legislation and send a bill to the President for his signature.

But until that happens, it is important that we continue these programs, so we do need to pass this bill. Therefore, I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I support this temporary continuation of funding for TANF, Temporary Assistance For Needy Families. It also extends the

Child Care Development Block Grant Program and transitional medical assistance for people who leave welfare for work. The bill extends funding for these programs for the next 3 months without any changes in current law. As the gentleman from California (Mr. Herger) pointed out, this is the ninth temporary extension for TANF over the last 3 years.

I agree with those who say we should be doing much more. I think it is wrong we have not brought forward legislation that deals with the reality of what has happened in our communities over the past 3 years. We have seen a significant growth in poverty in this country, growing by 4.3 million people. In 2003 alone, almost another 800,000 children fell into poverty; yet we see no action by this body to deal with the realities in our community.

Regrettably, the long-term welfare reauthorization plan put forward by my Republican colleagues largely ignores this problem. The gentleman from California (Mr. Herger) has pointed out that TANF has been remarkably successful, using his own terms; yet the legislation they bring forward radically changes the program by putting more mandates on States and less opportunity to tailor the program to meet the needs of individual States and fails to give the resources necessary in order to accomplish the task.

Instead, they have suggested that poverty is rising because welfare recipients are not working hard enough. However, this suggestion falls flat when Members consider one basic fact: the welfare rolls have been declining as we continue to see an increase in poverty. That points out the fact that there are just no jobs available. We are going through a recession; it is not that we have welfare recipients who are failing to work. They cannot find jobs; and when they do find jobs, these jobs do not pay enough. They need job training and help to move up the economic ladder.

Mr. Speaker, we should be providing more child care assistance, more job training, and a higher minimum wage; and yet in all three of these areas, the majority and President Bush have resisted such reforms. In fact, as the gentleman from California (Mr. Herger) points out, the Subcommittee On Human Resources is scheduled to mark up legislation tomorrow which is nearly identical to the same bill we have been debating for the last 3 years. In baseball, it is three strikes and you are out. Unfortunately, that does not apply here; otherwise perhaps we would finally get a bill that would be worthy of bipartisan support. We do not seem to be getting that from the majority.

While we are doing this, the other body is working on legislation, which I am happy to report. As the gentleman from California (Mr. Herger) pointed out, the Senate Finance Committee has given a road map by recently reporting a bipartisan bill to improve TANF. Let me underscore that. The Senate Finance Committee reported a bipartisan bill, a bill that represents give and take among all of the Members of the committee.

Mr. Speaker, I am not thrilled by all of the provisions in the bill that was marked up, but I think it does allow us to move forward to get a bill to the President's desk. It increases access to education rather than placing new limitations on education and training. It does not double work hours for mothers with young children. It does not include an open-ended superwaiver authority that could reduce protections for food stamps and housing benefits, and includes six times as much new child care funding compared to the bill that will be marked up tomorrow in our committee.

As I said, the Senate finance bill is far from perfect, and I hope it will improve when considered by the full Senate; but it represents a much better approach than the Republican bill in this body. I hope we can continue to work towards a long-term bill that reflects many of the improvements made in the Senate bill.

In the meantime, Mr. Speaker, I support this temporary extension of current law, hope we can work together, and hope we have a bill worthy of bipartisan support we can get to the President.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am here today to support the extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Block Grant Program through June 30, 2005.

For the ninth time since September 2002, the U.S. House today is attempting to pass another short-term extension of the nation's welfare system, by approving the Welfare Reform Extension Act of 2004 under our suspension calendar.

For the sake of the millions of families that remain in the welfare system, we need a final agreement that will help Americans achieve independence and a brighter future. While I am glad that the House Ways and Means Committee is taking action, it is still disturbing that we must continue to pass extensions rather than create a comprehensive reform that will help families for generations to come.

The 1996 welfare reform law authorized Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and related welfare programs through September 30, 2002. The House passed comprehensive welfare reauthorization bills in 2002 and 2003. The Senate's failure to approve a comprehensive reauthorization bill has forced both bodies to fund welfare programs since September 2002 through a series of short-term extensions, without any further improvements. The last short term extension from March 2004 is set to expire on June 30, 2005, until the U.S. Senate can complete its work.

Every day that passes without a comprehensive agreement means more low-income families depending on governmental assistance. It means less work and job preparation by parents. It means fewer child care and child support resources available to help families. It means more poverty. And it means more families going into debt and creating more obstacles to financial freedom. It's time to deliver on this vital legislation.

As chair of the Congressional Children's Caucus, I know that many of the people that will suffer from lack of comprehensive benefits are children. These children are not the ones who are making decisions for the family, but are the ones that are suffering from it. The government must step in and take a proactive role to see that such imbalances are set right. As we reauthorize TANF today, let's go one step further and create a working assistance program that has long term solutions.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1160, which was received from the House.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1160.