Media Center | Press Releases

Washington, D.C. –Today, Congressman Marlin Stutzman (IN-03) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives voted to preserve key welfare reforms.

 

“The best way to fight poverty is to promote economic growth and job creation,” said Stutzman. “Instead of working to prevent the looming tax hikes on families and small businesses, the current administration is pursuing a backdoor attempt to undermine welfare work requirements. For nearly sixteen years, Americans from both parties understood that work requirements are fair and essential requirements for receiving taxpayer funded benefits. Like most Hoosiers, I believe that welfare should lend a helping hand while people get back on their feet, not create a permanent subsidy. I voted to preserve the welfare work requirement because I believe that true assistance helps Hoosiers move from welfare checks to paychecks.”

 

In 1996, Congress passed and President Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The bipartisan law promoted work as a central focus of helping low-income families escape poverty. On July 12, 2012 the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a memorandum allowing states to seek a waiver from the work requirements central to the success of welfare reform. The decision could allow states to take advantage of loopholes by claiming personal journaling, bed rest, and weight loss as “work activities.”

 

Today, the House of Representatives passed H.J. Res. 118, a resolution to preserve the bipartisan reforms which have helped millions of families lift themselves out of poverty.