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Welfare Reform
With Rep. Benjamin Cardin
Maryland's 3rd Congressional District
Thursday, Feb. 28, 2002; 2:30 p.m. EST
On Tuesday, President Bush set forth his vision for the "next steps of welfare reform," trying to appeal to Congress through a proposal that blends a focus on work and marriage sought by conservatives with new flexibility for the governors who run the nation's welfare system
Rep. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), who represents Maryland's 3rd Congressional District, was online to discuss welfare reform, the president's plan and the Democrat's welfare bill which he is sponsoring.
A transcript follows.
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over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: It is important that we reauthorize the welfare legislation and that we put our attention not only on getting people off or the welfare rolls but that we also get people out of poverty. The reauthorization that the president submitted will start the debate in Congress on what will be the next chapter of welfare reform. I personally hope that we will provide additional flexibility to the states in order to successfully get people off of welfare.
Alexandria, Va.:
Representative Cardin,
Rep. Herger has said he wants to finish up TANF reauthorization by August. What do you see as the likely timeline on this issue?
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: If we can work out a bipartisan agreement there is no reason why we can not finish up the TANF reauthorization by the date that Mr. Herger said. The key will be whether the Republicans in the House are prepared to work with the Democrats for a true bipartisan bill.
Lexington, Ken.:
Representative Cardin, I like your position that welfare reform, in itself, isn't the answer to moving people out of poverty. The percentage of poor people who actually receive welfare is miniscule. What the country needs to do is to help all poor people attain the skills and opportunities to become self sufficient.
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: I agree with your point. That is why the bill that I am involved with in Congress makes it easier for states to provide job training and education to people on welfare. In order for people to be self-sufficient they need job skills and education. We should make it easier for the states to move in this direction.
Washington, D.C.:
How confident do you feel that portions of your proposal will end up enacted as part of TANF reauthorization? Do you think that Democrats have much bargaining power in the current environment?
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: There is no question that it will be difficult to get the additional resources that I believe is necessary in order to get people not only off welfare but also out of poverty. It would require more money for child-care and at least adjusting the basic grant to the sates by inflation. I think that it will be very difficult in the present budget environment to get that done, however I would hope that we could improve the structure of welfare to make it easier to states to provide job training and education to people on welfare.
Laurel, Md.:
In many cases today, aren't working poor people poorer than their neighbors who don't work and receive assistance?
Would your plan affect that discrepancy?
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: I don't think that is accurate but there is no question that there are a lot of working poor people in our community. Congress needs to increase the minimum wage to provide additional tax relief to the working poor and adopt a national health policy so that the working poor have health benefits and if we did that people who work full time should not have to work in poverty.
Baltimore, Md.:
Glad to hear you are tackling
welfare. Let's stop giving welfare bailouts
to large corporations. The airlines, the
energy companies, the oil companies,
the automotive industry, and others have
received billions of our tax dollars, and
frequently don't even pay taxes. This has
got to stop.
We need them to become responsible for
themselves, not to grow up and expect a
handout whenever they make bad
decisions for themselves.
Maybe some training programs for CEO's
to help them find creative ways to free
themselves from the bonds of
government checks would help.
You have my support to free the system of
these corporate welfare freeloaders.
Just don't mess with the tiny amount
spent on real people.
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: It is easier to pass tax relief for business then it is to provide more support to people in poverty. I would hope that we provide enough resources to get the job done for people on welfare and still provide tax relief where it is truly justified.
Laurel, Md.:
To my understanding there are dozens of federal welfare departments spending in the neighborhood of $300 billion on welfare programs. Does yours or any plan under consideration attempt to consolidate programs?
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: I am not sure what programs you are referring to. Welfare is a block grant to the states of approximately $16.5 billion a year. The states then set up the programs themselves. So there are no federal programs. There is a small administrative budget at HHS that helps administer state grants, but the programs are all local.
Annapolis, Md.:
What is your position on providing welfare and assorted help-programs to immigrants and aliens? From my vantage point, companies have been vigorously importing cheap labor over the past twenty years. Perhaps now is the time to demand that support for these people come on the corporate dime and not be transferred the American citizens.
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: Legal immigrants are generally people who come to this country to make America their home. They pay taxes and help build our nation. I don't believe that we should discriminate against legal immigrants on programs such as welfare. I might point out that an immigrant is required to have a sponsor for a certain number of years that remains responsible for that immigrant not ending up on our welfare system.
Harrisburg, Pa.:
I understand the President's argument that a familiy with two incomes by definition increases a family's economic standing. Single parents often face financial stress. Yet, in this time of scarce financial resources, I fear that placing an overemphasis on encouraging marriage amongst welfare recipients is not the most effective use of our tax money. Wouldn't it be more effective to provide job training, skills training, and to create jobs to allow people to leave welfare and find permanent employment? Further, wouldn't it be better to provide skills enhancement so people may advance in their jobs and rise above the perils of being low income? Shouldn't that be our priorities?
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: If in fact we do as you suggest, and I agree, the person who is trained and able to find employment is much more likely be an attractive partner. The bottom line is you are correct -- we should place our priority ion giving the custodial and non-custodial parent the skills necessary to be able to support a family. That will also make more likely the fact that the two parents will be united.
Poolesville, Md.:
How can we get a look at your bill? What is its bill number and how many progressive groups will be supporting your bill?
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: HR-3625 is the bill number.
You can get copies of it through the House Web site.
It is supported by most of the wealthier advocacy groups and we would welcome additional supporters in our effort to get this legislation enacted.
Frederick, Md.:
Forgive me if I'm being too blunt, but -- who cares about welfare reform? I suppose some change is necessary. But why should it take priority over the problems that are confronting working families? We've been promised healthcare reform and gotten nothing. We've gotten nothing from the government on childcare. We've gotten nothing on affordable housing. We've got nothing on transportation.
This attention being paid to welfare reform isa red-herring designed to obscure the fact that the government -- Democrats AND Republicans -- are doing nothing to address the real issues that working fmailies in this country confront every day.
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: I wouldn't blame welfare for our failure to deal with these other issues. The percentage of our budget being spent on these programs has shrunk every year. It is in everyone's interest to strengthened our economy. We need everyone who can work working. American's spend large sums on education because it strengthens not only the individual but also our society So let us strengthen the welfare system so more people can work, but let us also deal with the other problems you mentioned. In order to do that we should have a budget that is properly balanced with the priorities of our nation.
Hartford, Conn.:
How do you feel about the White House's proposal that has such a strong emphasis on marriage and abstinence, both strategies that have never been proven effective? Understandably, these are important values to promote, but, can the government really be effective in teaching them?
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: I think you have pretty much already answered you r own question. It is right to the Federal government OT give flexibility to the states to have programs to reduce teenage pregnancy and out of wedlock births. But the federal government should not try to proscribe to the states the specific programs to accomplish these objectives.
Rep. Benjamin Cardin: Let me thank all those who participated in this discussion on welfare. It is important this year as we reauthorize the largest program in our country that is specifically aimed at those in poverty that we have a national debate as to how this program should be structured. The Washington Post in this format has helped contribute to that debate. Thank you.
washingtonpost.com:
That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the
discussion.
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