The second, he said, was the welfare reform of 1996, which cut the nation's welfare rolls from a peak of 14.2 million in 1994 to 5.8 million last year by requiring work in return for time-limited benefits. We do not yet know what will happen to these men and women, or to their children. But we cannot sit and watch, leaving them to their own struggles and their own fate. But in addition to expected complaints of liberals, several leading religious conservatives said they worry about the strings that might come attached to the money, about the fringe or non-Christian groups that might qualify for funds, and about the corruption or bureaucratic bloat the program could bring to church organizations. Bush noted that organizations like Catholic Charities already receive government funding.
Government loans send countless students to religious colleges.
A determined assault on poverty will require both an active government and active citizens. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, credited Bush for acknowledging his critics but said the president had not addressed their concern that his plan allows organizations to use private money to proselytize their clients as long as the public money goes only to social services. His plan would let churches use public funds as a lure to people they would then seek to convert. A Catholic adviser to Bush, Robert George of Princeton University, said after watching the speech that it showed Bush is heading away from the Republican Party's libertarian focus under former President Ronald Reagan, and toward the social consciousness that is a part of Catholic doctrine. These parts include Bush's effort to promote philanthropy by expanding the federal charitable deduction to taxpayers who do not itemize.