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1994.01.27 : Working Group on Welfare Reform Response to GOP Plan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                   Contact:  Melissa Skolfield
Thursday, Jan. 27, 1994                           (202) 690-6853

                 RESPONSE TO SENATE REPUBLICAN PLAN

     The co-chairs of President Clinton's Working Group on Welfare
Reform issued the following statement today in response to the
release of a welfare reform plan by a group of Republican Senators.
The co-chairs are HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families
Mary Jo Bane, HHS Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
David T. Ellwood, and Deputy Assistant to the President for
Domestic Policy Bruce Reed.

     "We are pleased that the Senate Republicans have joined the
debate on welfare reform.  We will certainly look closely at their
legislation as we work with Congress and the states and localities
to finalize the administration's plan.  We are pleased that so many
of the plans being offered conform to the President's vision of a
reformed system which reinforces the fundamental American values of
work and responsibility.

     "As the President indicated in the State of the Union on
Tuesday night, welfare reform is a top priority for the
administration and the nation this year.  We are hard at work on
legislation to introduce this spring, and we hope Congress will
pass it this year.

     "There is broad support throughout the country and across
party lines for bold change in the welfare system.  The American
people recognize that the welfare system and the health care system
are in crisis, and it is time to reform them both.  We look forward
to working with members of Congress in both parties to develop and
pass legislation that fulfills the President's commitment to end
welfare as we know it."