Daniel Moynihan

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to be able to yield 3 minutes to my esteemed colleague from New Jersey, Senator Bradley.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I happily yield 3 minutes to my friend, the Senator from Minnesota [Mr. Wellstone].

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2568

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Unanimous-Consent Agreement

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, the Senator from Ohio has pointed out clearly something I find painful. In the very long time that I have been in this city I have never seen legislation imposing more regulatory requirements on State governments by the Federal Government than this bill. And I would simply respond, if I may. In a little bit of a caricature a couple of days ago when one of the these new regulatory provisions came along, I stood on this side of the aisle and said, ``Mr. President, as one who dearly loves Federal regulations imposed on States in minute, indecipherable detail, I accept this amendment with great gusto.'' I could not say it better. It is going to be a great generation for regulators, but not very great for poor people and certainly not great for poor children.

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I yield an additional minute to the Senator from Florida and 1 minute to the Senator from Massachusetts.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I yield 3 minutes to the Senator from Florida.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. To my knowledge, I do not know of any objection.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, the Senator from Nebraska is on his way. He is expected to be here soon. I wonder if I could place a quorum call----

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I believe the Senator from Florida is next in our sequence. May I ask how much time the Senator will require, how little time the Senator will require?

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2478

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, we must have order as a procedural matter is about to be discussed.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was rejected.

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, as we contemplate the compromise by which we can agree to end the entitlement under the Social Security Act, title IV-A for States to receive a share of the costs for providing for dependent children, I would like to share simply for the Record a portion of a letter from Irwin Garfinkel, Alfred Kahn, and Sheila Kamerman of the Columbia University School of Social Work who are so concerned with what we may be doing here, and they write: As we are sure you know, a similar madness pervaded the nation at the close of the 19th century. Then, of course, relief policy was--aside from Civil War veterans and their survivors--strictly a state, and in practice, mostly a local responsibility. As a consequence of the severe cutback in relief-- And here I interpolate that the Charity Organization Society managed to get hold of the effective control of local private agencies in many parts of the country. as a consequence of the severe cutback in relief, we began sending large numbers of children of single mothers to orphanages. The children were referred to as half-orphans. In reaction, 40 states established mothers pensions, the forerunner of ADC. Though we take some comfort from the reaction, our hope--that 100 years later the Nation might be spared another such misbegotten and shameful era before regaining its senses--grow dim. I will just repeat that: . . . our hope--that 100 years later the Nation might be spared another such misbegotten and shameful era before regaining its senses--grow dim. I will say, Mr. President, that what happened in 1935 was that the State mothers' pensions were increasingly difficult for the State governments to maintain, and so they were taken over under the title IV-A, Aid to Dependent Children, which was just children at that time. In 1939, the mother was entitled to a benefit, and it became aid to families with dependent children, the program we are evidently intent upon abolishing and repeating ``a misbegotten and shameful era.'' Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, early today--well, at 10 o'clock this morning--we were to have commenced a series of votes that had been agreed on yesterday. There was, necessarily, a delay as Members on the other side were at a meeting with their House counterparts on, I believe, Medicare. We had a half an hour in which to talk about whatever came to mind. I took the occasion to read a passage from the first page of the New York [[Page S 13579]] Times which described the White House as ``exceedingly eager to support a law that promises to change the welfare system,'' which is to say abolish title IV-A, Aid to Families with Dependent Children. It went on to say the White House was ``sending increasingly friendly signals about the bill.'' This is a bill which three professors at the Columbia School of Social Work, including the revered Alfred Kahn, said would recreate the turn-of-the-century era in which the children of single mothers were referred to as ``half orphans'' and sent to orphanages. In reaction, 40 States established mothers' pensions, the forerunner of aid to dependent children. The 1935 legislation created aid to dependent children. In 1939 the mother was entitled to a benefit, hence family with dependent children. They said, ``It is our hope that 100 years later the Nation might be spared another such misbegotten and shameful era.'' Mr. President, I spoke this morning not only about the New York Times this morning but rather of yesterday's statement, a statement by Rahm Emanuel, a White House spokesman, who said as the bill headed toward a vote on final passage, Rahm Emanuel, a White House spokesman said it was ``moving in the right direction.'' ``Moving in the right direction,'' is moving in the direction of the misbegotten and shameful era which took place at the turn of the century from which we gradually recovered our senses. I have since been in touch with the White House. I have talked to persons there and asked, can it be that this is the disposition of the White House? I am told that, yes, Mr. Emanuel, who I believe was the fundraiser for the 1992 Presidential campaign of Mr. Clinton and then was political director in the White House, that he is in charge of this matter now and that it is his view that the Democratic Party should abandon its commitment 60 years in place--a commitment Republican Presidents have been just as firm in--to a Federal provision of aid to dependent children. Mr. President, Rahm Emanuel is of that view, and obviously he is, he does not disguise it. I wonder about what other political advice he is giving in the White House. I will not speculate. I will state my alarm. No one can foresee the future. I do not. Yet we have seen something like this happen before. I can say again, when Irwin Garfinkel, Alfred Kahn, and Sheila Kamerman refer to the possibility that ``100 years later the Nation might be spared another such misbegotten and shameful era before regaining senses,'' they say that hope grows dim. If this is the advice the President is getting, that hope is dim, indeed. I say this with great reluctance, Mr. President, but something of great importance, in my view, is at stake. I yield the floor.

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.