Tanf Extension Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate we are here today, actually, but I do intend to support this short-term TANF extension.

I think it is useful to understand how we got here, because it certainly informs where we should be going. While the economy is expanding at greater than 3 percent, and the unemployment rate is now below 4 percent, we know not everyone is benefiting.

There are an estimated 67 million working-age American men missing from the labor force and 5\1/2\ million youth not in school or not working. This, combined with a generation of retiring workers, has left employers desperate to fill open jobs.

Our committee held a series of hearings last spring to learn how Congress can help close the jobs gap, the difference between what employers need to keep the economy growing and the number of workers in the labor force.

We heard from employers across the country and across industries-- technology in Colorado, manufacturing in Indiana and Ohio, auto plants in Michigan, homebuilders in Arizona, and the aerospace industry in Kansas. They all expressed the same message: We are hiring, and if you are not already proficient, we will pay you while you learn to do the work.

In my own district, the need for workers is a common theme among employers. One employer I spoke with recently, whose facility is largely automated, told me his biggest impediment to growth is a lack of people to run and operate the machinery.

In addition to the needs of employers and our economy, we also heard about the dignity of work from the individuals reconnected to the workforce, whether recently out of poverty or even prison. We heard how these men and women were better able to provide for their families and engage with their communities because of the social and monetary support their efforts to advance in the workforce provided. We want everyone to have that opportunity.

TANF has an important role to play in addressing the labor shortage, and changes are needed to fit the program to today's economy. More than 20 years after TANF was created, the program is not living up to expectations, and many States have lost sight of what it was intended to do: provide short-term support while people get back into the workforce.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the work we did in the House last year. We held seven hearings, including a legislative hearing, and we marked up legislation aimed at improving the program. Many of the proposals in our bill, the JOBS for Success Act, were supported by both parties' witnesses as well: one-on-one casework; measuring outcomes; refocusing the program on those most in need of assistance; and ensuring States could use their resources to both help people get to work, and, just as importantly, stay in the workforce and succeed.

Unfortunately, no one in the Senate took action on TANF until late last year. When they finally did deliver a proposal, it merely doubled down on, or attempted to paper over, the ongoing problems of TANF, which discourage States from helping their beneficiaries, rather than making a serious effort to help reconnect the population most in need.

Important progress has been made, both since 1996 and in the past year, but we are not done. I encourage my colleagues to support this extension and to continue working to refocus TANF to improve the lives of millions of American families.

More importantly, once this bill is signed, I encourage everyone, House and Senate, to come together and work with us to achieve solutions that help to connect Americans on the sidelines of the economy with the employers who desperately need them and to stay in the workforce long term.

We all know a check from the government is not the way out of poverty. Getting into and advancing in the workforce is.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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