The Kassebaum amendment would stifle that innovation. We oppose such a depressing result. This reform bill should not be structured to trade one welfare addiction for another. Most low-income Americans are struggling to make ends meet without Federal assistance and they are succeeding with pride and dignity. Their lives are not arranged and controlled for them by Federal bureaucrats who assume their general incompetence.
Welfare dependency destroys the human spirit.
However the broken homes, the violence, the drugs, the promiscuity, and all the other problems that are found in communities that rely on welfare make them the among the poorest communities that have ever existed. In our opinion, the Kassebaum amendment would perpetuate these problems by trading one dependency for another. We therefore strongly urge our colleagues to reject this amendment.