Wendell Ford

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii [Mr. Inouye] is necessarily absent. I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from Hawaii [Mr. Inouye] would vote ``aye.''

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, this bill adds no new costs or no new bureaucracy. It is supported by the National Governors' Association. I remind my colleagues on the other side, there are 31 Republican Governors. It is supported by the U.S. Catholic Conference, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the American Public Welfare Association. To say we can use funds from title XX, title XX is money for homebound elderly. It has not been increased since 1991. This makes the Governors make a choice between homebound elderly and the poorest of our children. It is just bad policy. Mr. President, let us give the Governors the flexibility they have asked for, they worked hard for. We give them responsibility. Let us not tell them how to operate. I yield the floor.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii [Mr. Inouye] is necessarily absent. I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from Hawaii [Mr. Inouye] would vote ``nay.''

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Illinois [Ms. Moseley- Braun] is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, this amendment gives States the option of providing noncash assistance to children once their adult parents have reached the 5-year limit. It does not affect the ban on cash assistance after 5 years. It would allow States to use their block grants to provide clothing, school supplies, medicine, and other things for the poorest children. This amendment makes this bill identical to H.R. 4, the welfare bill passed last December. It provides State flexibility. It adds no new costs.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, may we have order?

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 4927

Mr. FORD. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 4938

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii [Mr. Inouye] is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii [Mr. Inouye] is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. As I have stated, my amendment makes the bill identical to H.R. 4. If we are serious about passing a welfare reform bill acceptable to both the Congress and the administration, why should we allow this bill to be even tougher on children than H.R. 4 which the President vetoed? Mr. President, the American Public Welfare Association also supports this amendment. I ask unanimous consent that a copy of a June 26, 1996, letter from APWA be printed in the Record.

Mr. FORD. I thank the Senator from Missouri.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, Senator Murray is unavoidably detained. I am proposing her amendment. This is an amendment she discussed last week and withdrew with the opportunity to be able to submit it today. It strikes section 1206. The bill reduces the rate of the Summer Food Service Program. The Food Research Action Council's surveys and past experience leads them to conclude that the cut could result in: A 30- to 35-percent drop in the number of sponsors; A 20-percent cut in the number of children participating; Many larger sponsors dropping their smaller sites; A significant decline in meat quality as sponsors cut food costs. I ask unanimous consent that ``the need for the Murray amendment striking provisions relating to the Summer Food Program'' be printed in the Record.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Reid be added as a cosponsor of my amendment.

Mr. FORD. Will the Senator yield for 10 seconds? I apologize for this.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, the Catholic Conference of Kentucky has written a letter endorsing and supporting my amendment. I ask unanimous consent it be printed in the Record also.

Mr. FORD. So, Mr. President, I think this amendment moves us closer to compromise. I urge the adoption of my amendment. As I said earlier, this is one that ought to be accepted. The distinguished former Governor of New Hampshire, on the floor of the Senate last week said, as it related to the Breaux amendment, he did not like the first half, but the second half of the amendment he liked very much, which is basically the amendment I offered here today. I yield the floor.

Mr. FORD. If I may say to my friend, Mr. President, the point of order would lie against the Breaux amendment. But in talking with the Parliamentarian and others, this particular amendment would not have a point of order against it. I hope the Senator would not do that.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, we can keep the restriction on cash assistance after 5 years, but let us not take a step backward and prohibit all forms of noncash assistance. This prohibition is aimed directly at our children, and I think it is misguided. If we want a welfare reform compromise, if we want to avoid being unnecessarily harsh on our children, if we want to maximize State flexibility, we should pass this amendment. It is supported by the National Governors' Association, and it makes the bill identical to H.R. 4, which passed the Congress last year. It does not add to the cost of the bill and it promotes State flexibility. During the conference last year, the Governors lobbied hard for this particular amendment. I know none of my colleagues take these decisions lightly, but I hope you will remember that each one of us will be forever wedded to these decisions. We are essentially providing a road map for the future, the futures of hundreds of thousands of children in this country. Make no mistake about it, 5 or 10 or 15 years from now, when these children have become young adults, you and I must take some responsibility for their successes or failures. Of course, they will have their setbacks, just like you and me. But let us assure that those setbacks are not set in motion by the decisions we make today. By passing this amendment, I believe one day each of us can look at our future parents, doctors, lawyers, farmers and teachers, taking pride in our role to assure they grew up with a safe place to sleep at night, clothes on their backs, and food in their stomachs. If we fail to pass this amendment, the children who become trapped in lives of mediocrity or fall through the cracks to obscurity will belong to us as well. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent a letter from my Governor in Kentucky, who is now part of the leadership of the National Governors' Association, supporting this amendment be printed in the Record at this point.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, the Catholic Bishops' Conference supports this amendment. I ask unanimous consent a letter from the Catholic Bishops' Conference in support of my amendment be printed in the Record.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, this is an amendment that I think could almost be accepted. Although we could not agree on the Breaux amendment of last week regarding noncash assistance for children, I hope we can agree on this one. One of the reasons welfare reform is so complicated is that it is usually hard to separate the adults on welfare from the children. Many want to get tougher on the adults, especially those who have been on welfare for a long period of time. But I do not hear anyone who says get tougher on children. This amendment separates those issues because it is about how we as a Nation are ultimately responsible for the welfare of our children. Under the Republican bill, after 5 years, States may not use any Federal block grant money to assist families whatsoever. This applies to cash and noncash benefits as well. The current bill goes much further than H.R. 4, which passed Congress last year and was vetoed by the President. In my view, this makes the bill much tougher on children. H.R. 4 prohibited cash assistance after 5 years. It did not prohibit noncash assistance like vouchers that could be used for clothing or medicine or other needs of our children. My amendment makes this bill identical to H.R. 4 by allowing States to use Federal block grant funds to provide noncash assistance after adults on welfare have reached their 5-year limit. If you favor State flexibility, you should support this amendment. Some supporters of this bill have said State flexibility is one of their top priorities, yet on this issue the bill is less flexible than H.R. 4. We say send this welfare reform back to the States, but yet we say: States, do it the way we tell you to do it. That is not flexibility for the States. The National Governors' Association supports this amendment. This amendment does not increase the cost of the bill, nor add to the deficit. It deals with how the Federal block grant funds allocated to each State may be used. And so, Mr. President, in a letter dated June 26, 1996, the National Governors' Conference urged support for an amendment to apply the time limit in the bill only to cash assistance. I ask unanimous consent that a copy of this letter be printed in the Record.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.