Family Opportunity and Welfare Reform

FAMILY OPPORTUNITY ACT AND WELFARE REFORM

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, on Wednesday, February 1, 2006, the House of Representatives passed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, DRA, clearing the way for the President to sign this bill into law. This legislation was the product of a great deal of work on the part of Members and our dedicated staff and the experts who work in the congressional support agencies.

I would like to highlight two provisions in the DRA: the Family Opportunity Act and the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and pay special tribute to the Members and staff who worked so hard on them over many years.

Mr. President, I am particularly pleased that after years and years, the Family Opportunity Act is about to become law. This legislation has been something of a crusade of mine. This legislation extends Medicaid eligibility to families with a severely disabled child that are faced with either staying poor in order to continue to qualify for Medicaid or, worse, relinquishing a child to the State so that the child can receive the services that the child needs.

The introduction of the Family Opportunity Act was motivated by the circumstances of individual families, the Melissa Arnold Family and the Dylan Lee Family. I offer my heartfelt thanks to these families for sharing their struggles with me and for being the inspiration for this legislation.

I pay special tribute to my partner in this endeavor, Senator Edward Kennedy, who is a tireless champion on behalf of children and those with disabilities. During the many years we worked side by side on this bill, Senator Kennedy was most ably assisted by Connie Garner, of his staff.

On my own staff, I would like to single out the efforts of Hope Cooper who worked for many years on the Family Opportunity Act and whose knowledge and compassion were invaluable assets in developing the bill.

I also appreciate the work done by policy leads, Leah Kegler, Becky Shipp; health policy director, Mark Hayes; deputy staff director, Ted Totman, and staff director for the Finance Committee, Kolan Davis.

I am grateful for the work done by Jeanne De Sa and Eric Rollins at the Congressional Budget Office and Ruth Ernst at the Office of Legislative Counsel, especially for their patience in analyzing and drafting the many different versions of the legislation.

Mr. President, the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF, has been a long and very difficult process, spanning three Congresses. Everyone who has worked on this reauthorization has been guided by a fundamental principle: helping those in deep and persistent poverty achieve the economic self sufficiency needed to overcome that poverty. We may disagree on some of the best ways to overcome poverty, but everyone who devoted their labor to this program did so out of the best of intentions.

I particularly thank my friend and partner on the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Max Baucus, for his work on this program over the past 5 years. We didn't always agree, but we kept working together until we finally got to a compromise that satisfied us both. I hope at some point we can revisit some of the common themes we developed together in the PRIDE bill.

I thank Senator Baucus's staff who worked on this issue over the past 5 years, Doug Steiger, Kate Kahan, and Liz Fowler. They are passionate, knowledgeable, and care deeply about low-income programs and the individuals who rely upon them.

Other Members and their staff who contributed to the policy and the process include, the initial ``Tripartisan'' members: Senator John Breaux and his staff, Sara Triagle and Michelle Easton; Senator Orrin Hatch and his staff, Becky Shipp; Senator Jay Rockefeller and his staff, Barbara Pryor; Senator Olympia Snowe and her staff, Carolyn Holmes; Senator James Jeffords and his staff, Justin King; Senator Blanche Lincoln and her staff, Elizabeth MacDonald and Mike Anzick.

Other critical Members and staff include: Majority Leader Bill Frist and his staff, Eric Ueland and Libby Jarvis; Minority Leader Tom Daschle, and his staff, Joan Huffer; Senator Rick Santorum and his staff, Randy Brandt; Senator Christopher Dodd and his staff, Grace Reef; and Megan Hauck, who contributed as a advisor to Senator Don Nickles, as well as working at the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Legislation and the White House.

Throughout much of the process, Members and staff were indebted to the expertise of the Director of the Office of Family Assistance at the Administration of Children and Families, Andrew Bush and the Assistant Secretary for Human Service Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Don Winstead.

The Congress simply could not do our work, were it not for the incredibly talented and hardworking individuals serving in the congressional support agencies. We owe a substantial debt of gratitude for the work done by Gene Falk, Melinda Gish, and Carmen Soloman Fears at the Congressional Research Service; Shelia Dacey at the Congressional Budget Office; and Ruth Ernst at the Office of the Legislative Council.

As ranking member and then chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I was well served by policy leads, Hope Cooper and Becky Shipp; health policy director, Mark Hayes; deputy staff director, Ted Totman; and staff director for the Finance Committee, Kolan Davis.

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