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REMARKS BY DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Place: HUNDRED HOUR RULE WHITE HOUSE WELFARE EVENT, WASHINGTON, DC
Date: August 4, 1998

President Clinton, Secretary Herman, Deputy Director Kimble and distinguished guests.

Every August, millions of Americans leave work and head off to beaches and national parks for their summer vacations. This August, millions of Americans are heading in the other direction. They're going to work - many for the first time in their lives. That means they're trading welfare checks for paychecks - and contributing to the most successful economy in memory.

All because six years ago, President Clinton was elected as the first president committed to reforming welfare.

The welfare system - although created with the best of intentions - no longer reflected our values of work, family and responsibility. Six years later - and two years after the President signed the new welfare reform law - we've made remarkable progress that really has changed welfare as we knew it. We approved waivers for 43 states so they could encourage work and promote responsibility. Then to build on this progress - and make sure work pays - we raised the minimum wage and expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit.

We created millions of new jobs.

We cracked down on deadbeat parents and increased child support collections to record levels.

The bottom line is a dramatic increase in the number of families that have moved from welfare to work. But reforming welfare is about more than moving from welfare to work. It's about making sure families have the tools they need to go to work - and stay there. That means health care and child care.

That's why the President made sure that welfare reform did not end guaranteed health care for pregnant women, poor children, the disabled and the elderly. He also made sure that children do not lose Medicaid when their parents lose cash assistance after failing to meet a work requirement. Our Children's Health Insurance Program - CHIP - sets aside 24 billion dollars over five years to help states provide health care coverage for millions of children. And we are conducting a massive outreach program to find and enroll Medicaid-eligible children.

We must protect families from the terrible fear that they will have no child care when they go to work - or health insurance when their children get sick.

But this battle is not just being waged in Washington. States and communities are on the front line. And someone on the front line who understands the importance of helping families keep health care and move from welfare to work is Vesta Kimble, Deputy Director of Social Services in Anne Arundel County Maryland. She knows what this fight is about. Deputy Director Kimble . . .