I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 4
To restore the American family, reduce illegitimacy, control welfare spending
and reduce welfare dependence.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 4, 1995
Mr. SHAW, Mr. TALENT, and Mr. LATOURETTE (for themselves, Mr. HUTCH-
INSON, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. JONES, Mr. TIAHRT, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr.
ENSIGN, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr.
GANSKE, Mr. EWING, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. COBURN, Mr. LEWIS
of Kentucky, Mr. BUNNING of Kentucky, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. INGLIS of
South Carolina, Mr. LIGHTFOOT, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. HOB-
SON, Mr. CREMEANS, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr.
HAYWORTH, Mr. FOX, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. ROTH, Mr. WAMP, Mr.
GOODLING, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. DOO-
LITTLE, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. STUMP, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. GILMAN, Mr.
MILLER of Florida, Mr. DORNAN, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr.
FORBES, Mr. LINDER, Mr. BLUTE, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. COOLEY,
Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. CLINGER, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr.
CALLAHAN, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. CHRYSLER,
Mr. CAMP, Mr. HANCOCK, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. BART-
LETT of Maryland, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr.
LARGENT, Mr. BAKER of Louisiana, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. AR-
CHER, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. HERGER, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr.
STEARNS, Mr. STOCKMAN, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. BAKER of Cali-
fornia, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. HEINEMAN, Mrs.
FOWLER, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. FLANAGAN, Mr. BURR, Mr. LATHAM, Ms.
MOLINARI, Mr. GUNDERSON, Mr. RIGGS, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. AL-
LARD, Mr. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. WICKER,
Mr. BONO, Mr. FRISA, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. CANADY, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr.
BARTON of Texas, Mr. BARR, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. HORN, Ms. DUNN of
Washington, Mr. TATE, Mr. MICA, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. PAXON, Mr. YOUNG
of Florida, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. COMBEST, Mr. COBLE,
and Mr. EHRLICH) introduced the following bill; which was referred as
follows:
Title I, referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and, in addition, to
the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, for a period to be sub-
sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of
such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
Title II, referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and, in addition, to
the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities, for a period
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
Title III, referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and, in addition, to
the Committees on Banking and Financial Services, Economic and Edu-
cational Opportunities, the Budget, and Rules, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
Title IV, referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and, in addition, to
the Committees on Banking and Financial Services, Commerce, Economic
and Educational Opportunities, the Judiciary, and Agriculture, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the commit-
tee concerned
Title V, referred to the Committee on Agriculture and, in addition, to the
Committees on Economic and Educational Opportunities and the Judici-
ary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
the committee concerned
Title VI–VII, referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
Title VIII, referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and, in addition,
to the Committees on Agriculture, Budget, Economic and Educational
Opportunities, Banking and Financial Services, Commerce, Agriculture,
the Judiciary, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To restore the American family, reduce illegitimacy, control
welfare spending and reduce welfare dependence.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Personal Responsibility
Act of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
TITLE I—REDUCING ILLEGITIMACY
Sec. 100. Sense of the Congress.
Sec. 101. Reduction or denial of AFDC for certain children whose paternity is
not established.
Sec. 102. Teens receiving AFDC required to live at home.
Sec. 103. Earlier paternity establishment efforts by States.
Sec. 104. Increase in paternity establishment percentage.
Sec. 105. Denial of AFDC for certain children born out-of-wedlock.
Sec. 106. Denial of AFDC for additional children.
Sec. 107. State option to deny AFDC benefits to children born out-of-wedlock
to individuals aged 18, 19, or 20, and to deny such benefits
and housing benefits to such individuals.
Sec. 108. Grants to States for assistance to children born out-of-wedlock.
Sec. 109. Removal of barriers to interethnic adoption.
TITLE II—REQUIRING WORK
Sec. 201. Findings; intent; statement of purpose.
Sec. 202. Work program.
Sec. 203. Work supplementation program amendments.
Sec. 204. Payments to States for certain individuals receiving food assistance
from the State who perform work on behalf of the State.
TITLE III—CAPPING THE AGGREGATE GROWTH OF WELFARE
SPENDING
Sec. 301. Cap on growth of Federal spending on certain welfare programs.
Sec. 302. Conversion of funding under certain welfare programs.
Sec. 303. Savings from welfare spending limits to be used for deficit reduction.
TITLE IV—RESTRICTING WELFARE FOR ALIENS
Sec. 401. Ineligibility of aliens for public welfare assistance.
Sec. 402. State AFDC agencies required to provide information on illegal aliens
to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
TITLE V—CONSOLIDATING FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Sec. 501. Food assistance block grant program.
Sec. 502. Availability of Federal coupon system to States.
Sec. 503. Authority to sell Federal surplus commodities.
Sec. 504. Definitions.
Sec. 505. Repealers; amendments.
Sec. 506. Effective date; application of repealers and amendments.
TITLE VI—EXPANDING STATUTORY FLEXIBILITY OF STATES
Sec. 601. Option to convert AFDC into a block grant program.
Sec. 602. Option to treat new residents of a State under rules of former State.
Sec. 603. Option to impose penalty for failure to attend school.
child whose paternity has not been established,
unless—
‘‘(i) the child was conceived as a re-
sult of rape or incest; or
‘‘(ii) the State determines that efforts
to establish such paternity would result in
physical danger to the child or the relative
claiming such aid;
‘‘(B) if the paternity of a dependent child
has not been established, the relative claiming
such aid alleges that any of not more than 3
named individuals may be the biological father
of the child and provides the address of each of
the named individuals (or, if the relative is not
aware of the address of such a named individ-
ual, the address of the immediate relatives of
the named individual), and the State has not
disproved the allegation, then aid under the
State plan may not be denied to the family by
reason of subparagraph (A), but the needs of
the dependent child shall be disregarded in de-
termining the amount of such aid;
‘‘(C) the relative claiming such aid shall
have the burden of proving any allegation of pa-
ternity of a dependent child by an individual
who is deceased, in accordance with procedures
established by the State in consultation with
the Secretary; and
‘‘(D) if the amount of aid payable to a
family under the State plan is reduced by rea-
son of this paragraph, each member of the fam-
ily shall be considered to be receiving such aid
for purposes of eligibility for medical assistance
under the State plan approved under title XIX
for so long as such aid would otherwise not be
so reduced.’’.
(b) NO EFFECT ON ELIGIBILITY FOR FOSTER CARE
MAINTENANCE
PAYMENTS.—Section 472(a)(4)(B) of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 672(a)(4)(B)) is amended—
(1) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘and section
402(a)(46) were not applied to the child’’ before the
comma; and
(2) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘, section
402(a)(46) were not applied to the child,’’ before
‘‘and application’’.
(c) NO EFFECT ON ELIGIBILITY FOR ADOPTION AS-
SISTANCE PAYMENTS.—Section 473(a)(2)(B)(ii) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)(2)(B)(ii)) is amended—
(1) in subclause (I), by inserting ‘‘and section
402(a)(46) were not applied to the child’’ before the
comma; and
(2) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘, section
402(a)(46) were not applied to the child,’’ before
‘‘and application’’.
SEC. 102. TEENS RECEIVING AFDC REQUIRED TO LIVE AT
HOME.
Section 402(a)(43) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 602(a)(43)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘at the option of the State,’’;
and
(2) by striking ‘‘18’’ and inserting ‘‘19’’.
SEC. 103. EARLIER PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT EFFORTS
BY STATES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 466(a)(5)(C) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(5)(C)) is amended by re-
designating clauses (i) and (ii) as clauses (ii) and (iii) and
by inserting before clause (ii) (as so redesignated) the fol-
lowing: ‘‘(i) a requirement that, as soon as an officer or
employee of the State becomes aware, in the performance
of official duties, of a pregnant, unmarried individual, the
officer or employee (I) inform the individual, orally and
in writing, that she will be ineligible for aid under the
State plan under part A unless she informs the State of
the identity of the prospective father and, after the child
is born, cooperates in establishing the paternity of the
child, and (II) encourage the individual to urge the pro-
spective father to acknowledge paternity,’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 466(a)(5)
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(5)) is amended in each of
subparagraphs (D) and (E) by striking ‘‘(C)(ii)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(C)(iii)’’.
(c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—The Congress en-
courages the States to—
(1) develop procedures in public hospitals and
clinics to facilitate the acknowledgement of pater-
nity; and
(2) establish legal procedures that permit the
establishment of paternity as quickly and easily as
possible.
SEC. 104. INCREASE IN PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT PER-
CENTAGE.
Section 452(g)(1) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 652(g)(1)) is amended by striking all that follows
‘‘—’’ and inserting the following:
‘‘(A) 90 percent;
‘‘(B) for a State with a paternity establishment
percentage of not less than 50 percent but less than
90 percent for such fiscal year, the paternity estab-
lishment percentage of the State for the immediately
preceding fiscal year plus 6 percentage points; or
‘‘(C) for a State with a paternity establishment
percentage of less than 50 percent for such fiscal
year, the paternity establishment percentage of the
State for the immediately preceding fiscal year plus
10 percentage points.’’.
SEC. 105. DENIAL OF AFDC FOR CERTAIN CHILDREN BORN
OUT-OF-WEDLOCK.
(a) DENIAL OF AFDC.—Section 402(a) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 602(a)), as amended by section
101(a) of this Act, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(45);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (46) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (46) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(47) provide that—
‘‘(A) aid under the plan shall not be pay-
able with respect to a child born out-of-wedlock,
on or after the effective date of this paragraph,
to an individual who, at the time of such birth,
had not attained 18 years of age, unless, after
the birth of the child—
‘‘(i) the individual marries an individ-
ual who the State determines is the bio-
logical father of the child; or
‘‘(ii) the biological parent of the child
has legal custody of the child and marries
an individual who legally adopts the child;
and
‘‘(B) if the amount of aid payable to a
family under the State plan is reduced by rea-
son of this paragraph, each member of the fam-
ily shall be considered to be receiving such aid
for purposes of eligibility for medical assistance
under the State plan approved under title XIX
for so long as such aid would otherwise not be
so reduced.’’.
(b) NO EFFECT ON ELIGIBILITY FOR FOSTER CARE
MAINTENANCE
PAYMENTS.—Section 472(a)(4)(B) of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 672(a)(4)(B)), as amended by section
101(b) of this Act, is amended in each of clauses (i) and
(ii) by striking ‘‘section 402(a)(46)’’ and inserting ‘‘para-
graphs (46) and (47) of section 402(a)’’.
(c) NO EFFECT ON ELIGIBILITY FOR ADOPTION AS-
SISTANCE PAYMENTS.—Section 473(a)(2)(B)(ii) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)(2)(B)(ii)), as amended by section
101(b) of this Act, is amended in each of subclauses (I)
lished by the Secretary. The Attorney General of the Unit-
ed States may institute judicial action in any court of com-
petent jurisdiction against the store or concern to collect
the fine.
(6) The Secretary may impose a fine against any per-
son not approved by the Secretary to accept and redeem
coupons who violates this section or a regulation issued
under this section, including violations concerning the ac-
ceptance of coupons. The amount of any such fine shall
be established by the Secretary and may be assessed and
collected in accordance with regulations issued under this
section separately or in combination with any fiscal claim
established by the Secretary. The Attorney General of the
United States may institute judicial action in any court
of competent jurisdiction against the person to collect the
fine.
(e) COLLECTION AND DISPOSITION OF CLAIMS.—The
Secretary shall have the power to determine the amount
of and settle and adjust any claim and to compromise or
deny all or part of any such claim or claims arising under
this section or the regulations issued pursuant to this sec-
tion, including, but not limited to, claims arising from
fraudulent and nonfraudulent overissuances to recipients,
including the power to waive claims if the Secretary deter-
mines that to do so would serve the purposes of this sec-