Aloha and good morning ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to join you on this beautiful Saturday morning as you conclude your 1997 Management and Leadership Training Conference. I trust that your gathering in Hawaii has been educational, inspirational, and enjoyable. Looking over your conference agenda and workshop schedule, I am certain that you will return to your communities refreshed and reinvigorated to meet the challenges faced by Community Action Agencies (CAAs) fighting poverty in our nation.
Thank you Maybelle [Maybelle Fujiuchi] for your gracious introduction. I have known Maybelle, Ruby Hargrave, George Yokoyama, Gladys Baisa, and other Hawaii community action leaders for nearly 30 years. I am honored to work with them and fortunate to call them friends.
These community action pioneers have been serving Hawaii's communities since the early days of the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) and the War On Poverty. My first involvement with community action programs came when Ruby invited me to join the Hawaii Community Action Program Board of Directors as the representative for education. This was back in 1968. The Community Action concept of local participation in the formation of antipoverty services and activities responsive to community needs was a revolutionary idea. I recall an early effort in Nanakuli, on the Waianae Coast of Oahu, an area with an exceptionally high concentration of poverty whose problems and needs were frequently overlooked as our state's economy boomed in the 1960s. Developing dialogue, identifying community concerns, and reaching consensus on priorities and solutions proved a difficult task and success seemed elusive.
Gradually however, the community action approach to poverty--grassroots involvement and responsibility, self-sufficiency, and government partnership with the private sector--yielded tangible results. These efforts, undertaken under the auspices of the Office of Economic Opportunity, promoted community activism and helped establish a foundation for a local leadership infrastructure that has empowered the communities along the leeward coast.
OEO and community action programs on the Neighbor Islands also were successful in addressing the causes of poverty and despair in their communities, creating the strong state network that exists today. The accomplishments of Hawaii's community action programs are many and wide ranging, including Head Start and other educational programs, local economic development, transportation services, rural housing and homelessness programs, services for migrant and seasonal farm workers, community health initiatives, senior citizen activities and consulting services to other nonprofit service organizations. Many of these programs were initiated in CAP and spun off to other State and County agencies after they were deemed successful. As an educator, state official, Member of Congress, and United States Senator, I have had the privilege of working with our fine community action agencies in Hawaii in responding to the needs of people in our state. They enjoy a tremendous level of respect and credibility in our communities; admiration earned in recognition of years of hard work and accomplishment.
Yesterday you heard Congressman Abercrombie outline the economic stagnation and crisis of confidence affecting our state, still suffering from the national recession at the start of the decade and the Gulf War's impact on international travel. The Governor's Economic Revitalization Task Force has proposed tax cuts, better tourism marketing, regulatory relief, and education reforms. The task force recommendations reflect consensus between business, labor, and government on steps needed to encourage economic growth. Encouraged by this new sense of cautious optimism, we must not lose sight of our responsibilities to the poor in our communities, particularly since the 1996 national welfare reform law has weakened, if not dismantled, the national safety net.
The welfare reform law dramatically reshaped the federal government's cash and food welfare programs. A key component of the law is the establishment of work participation rates designed to move welfare recipients into jobs and break the cycle of welfare dependency. Under the law, there is an increased need for the involvement of nonprofit and private organizations which provide services like job placement, job counseling, job training, child care, transportation, and family health. These services are essential if welfare beneficiaries are to gain the education and marketable job skills necessary to make the transition from welfare to work.
The challenges posed by the welfare reform law present an opportunity and need for community action agencies to become more involved in state efforts to assist welfare recipients. The national community action network has demonstrated its effectiveness in combating poverty. You possess the skills and experience to provide the education and training needed to break the cycle of dependence and address the systemic causes of poverty.
The transfer of responsibility for our nation's welfare system from the federal government to state and local governments requires innovative approaches to ensure that people moved from welfare to work receive the assistance they need to succeed. Cooperation between governments, public and private organizations, and employers is imperative if the poor are to make the transition from dependency on public aid to self-sufficiency. Here in Hawaii, our community action agencies are working with the state to provide welfare recipients the incentives and counseling critical to placement in the workforce.
Nationwide, the community action approach to the empowerment of the poor offers an attractive model to state and local governments grappling with their welfare caseloads. As one of the few Senators who voted against the 1996 welfare law, I continue to have serious concerns with the legislation, including the lack of adequate resources to move recipients into work and restrictions placed on legal immigrants' access to services. Our responsibility now is to develop ways to aid the poor within this new framework.
As Americans, we all share the obligation to assist those compelled to work, find work. Government, business, churches, labor, and civic organizations--including community action agencies--must embrace this challenge and dedicate their time and energy toward accelerating the upward mobility of the poor. Together, we can design and implement new approaches to ending poverty as we enter the 21st century. I applaud your commitment to service and wish you continued success as you return home to face new challenges and opportunities.
Mahalo and aloha.
