Providing for Consideration of House Joint Resolution 118, Disapproving Rule Relating to Waiver and Expenditure Authority with Respect to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program; Providing for Consideration of H.R. 3409, Stop the War on Coal Act of 2012; and Providing for Proceedings During the Period from September 22, 2012, Through November 12, 2012
Floor Speech
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this political resolution that aims to wrongly characterize the administration's position on Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. This is a waste of our time.
The purpose of the administration's waiver proposal is to allow States to test alternative and innovative strategies that are designed to improve employment outcomes for needy families. As the Department of Health and Human Services has said repeatedly, waivers will only be approved if a State can prove that there is an effective transition from welfare to work. In essence, that they are putting more people to work.
Is the majority now against putting people to work? Or are they against states' rights? If so, they may want to tell their Presidential candidate. In 2005, Mitt Romney and 28 other Republican Governors wrote a letter requesting more ``flexibility to manage their TANF programs'' and ``increased waiver authority.''
This is exactly what the administration's waiver proposal does. For 2 years now, instead of working with us to create jobs, instead of passing middle class tax cuts, instead of passing the Violence Against Women Act, instead of passing responsible deficit reduction and to help us to try to get the economy moving again, the urgent priorities that we should be working on right now, this majority has continually put forward politically motivated resolutions.
You know, I would just say to you that the American people cannot afford a do-nothing Republican Congress that refuses to act on issues critical to the middle class, critical to small businesses, critical to farmers, critical to women. They need to expect better leadership from us.
I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution. We need to get work done, not politically motivated resolutions.
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