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    "ocrText": "Andrea Kane\n2/21/2000 02:00 PM\nRecord Type:\nRecord\nTo:\nSee the distribution list at the bottom of this message\nCC:\nSubject: NEW DEM DAILY: A Final High Note on Welfare Reform\nIn case you haven't already seen this very nice piece!\nForwarded by Andrea Kane/OPD/EOP on 12/21/2000 01:57 PM\[email protected] (New Democrats Online)\n12/21/2000 12:44:39 PM\nRecord Type:\nRecord\nTo:\nAndrea Kane/OPD/EOP\nCC:\nSubject: NEW DEM DAILY: A Final High Note on Welfare Reform\nNEW DEMOCRATS ONLINE\n-- NEW DEM DAILY --\nPithy news and commentary from the DLC.\n[ http://www.ndol.org ]\n21-DEC-2000\nA Final High Note on Welfare Reform\nGiven the enormous flak President Bill Clinton received --\nmuch of it from old friends -- for signing the 1996 welfare\nreform legislation, we're pleased that he has just received\none last opportunity to prove his critics wrong and report\nanother benchmark of success. According to the latest\nstatistics (June 2000), welfare caseloads have now dropped\nto 5.8 million. That's a 60 percent decline since 1993, and\na 50 percent decline since the welfare reform bill was\nenacted. It's also the lowest level of welfare dependency\nsince 1968.\nBut there's a lot more to welfare reform than simply\nreducing caseloads. That's why the other good news the\nPresident reported this week is so significant: the award of\nwelfare-to-work job placement and retention bonuses to 27\nstates and the District of Columbia.\nThis performance bonus was a Progressive Policy Institute\nidea that was included in the 1996 legislation thanks to the\nefforts of President Clinton and DLC Chairman Sen. Joe\nLieberman. It reflected the concern that states might make\ncaseload reductions -- which automatically \"freed up\" federal\nfunds for unrestricted state use under the welfare block grant\n-- the sole goal in welfare reform, rather than making sure\nwelfare recipients were getting into and staying in real,\nprivate-sector jobs.\nThis week's bonuses awards were in four categories: overall\nsuccess in job placement, job retention, and for greatest\nimprovement in each of those two categories. Arkansas,\nHawaii and Wisconsin won awards in three categories, and\nthe other states on the honor roll included Alabama,\nCalifornia, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois,\nIndiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, Montana, Nevada,\nNew Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma,\nTennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and\nWyoming.\nThe Clinton Administration deserves enduring credit for\npresiding over the most important national social policy\nchange since the Great Society, and for keeping its, and\nour, eyes on the real prize: not just lowering welfare rolls,\nbut lifting millions of American families out of dependence\nand into the mainstream world of private-sector work.\nRelated Material:\n\"Announcing Welfare Reform Achievements and Budget\nWins for America S Families,\" White House Briefing,\nSaturday, December 16, 2000:\nhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/new/html/Tue_Dec_19_115023_2000.html\n\"Work First: A Proposal to Replace Welfare With and\nEmployment System,\" by Will Marshall, Ed Kilgore,\nand Lyn A. Hogan, PPI Biefing, March 2, 1995:\nhttp://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?contentid=2089&knlgArealD=114&subsecid=143\nSUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION:\nTo subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your\nsubscription preferences, go to:\nhttp://www.ndol.org/cobrand/newsletter_subscribe.cfm\nThe New Dem Daily is published every weekday\nmorning by the Democratic Leadership Council.\nComplete archives are available on NDOL.org:\nhttp://www.ndol.org/ndol_ka.cfm?kaid=131\nMessage Sent To:\nMargy Waller/OPD/EOP@EOP\nJulie T. Bosland/OPD/EOP@EOP\[email protected] @ inet\[email protected] @ inet\[email protected]\[email protected] @ inet\nBarbara Chow/OMB/EOP@EOP\nZoe M. Neuberger/OMB/EOP@EOF\nAnna Richter\n12/15/2000 06:21:50 PM\nRecord Type:\nRecord\nTo:\nAndrea Kane/OPD/EOP@EOP, Julie T. Bosland/OPD/EOP@EOP, Margy Waller/OPD/EOP@EOP,\nChristina S. Ho/OPD/EOP@EOP\nCC:\nSubject: EMBARGOED Radio Address Transcript\nForwarded by Anna Richter/OPD/EOP on 12/15/2000 06:21 PM\nChristine L. Anderson\n12/15/2000 06:08:54 PM\nRecord Type:\nRecord\nTo:\nSee the distribution list at the bottom of this message\nCC:\nSubject: EMBARGOED Radio Address Transcript\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nOffice of the Press Secretary\nEmbargoed For Release\nUntil 10:06 A.M. EST\nSaturday, December 16, 2000\nRADIO ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT\nTO THE NATION\nThe Oval Office\nTHE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, as I work to\nconclude the last budget negotiations of my presidency, I'm\nreminded how far we've come these past eight years. We now live\nin a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. But we didn't\nget there by accident. We made tough choices, based on core\nvalues of opportunity for all, responsibility from all and a\ncommunity of all Americans.\nToday, I want to talk about two elements critical to\nour continued success: first, our progress in moving people from\nwelfare to work; and second, our continuing commitment to fiscal\ndiscipline and a budget that puts our people first.\nVice President Gore and I took office in 1993 with a\npledge to end welfare as we know it. Thanks to comprehensive\nreform, a renewed sense of responsibility, and the strongest\neconomy in a generation, millions of former welfare recipients\nnow know the dignity of work.\nToday, I am pleased to announce that over the past\neight years we've cut welfare case loads by more than eight\nmillion people. Last year alone, 1.2 million parents on welfare\nwent to work, determined to build better lives. Nationwide over\nthe last eight years, welfare rolls have dropped nearly 60\npercent, and now are the lowest in more than 30 years.\nWe've been able to sustain this progress year after\nyear because government, the private sector and welfare\nrecipients themselves all have done their parts. Together, we\nare finally breaking the cycle of dependance that has long\ncrippled the hopes of too many families.\nWhen we enacted landmark welfare reform in 1996, I\ninsisted that Congress provide incentives to reward states for\nhelping people to find jobs and to keep jobs. Today I'm pleased\nto announce that 28 states will receive a total of $200 million\nin bonuses for doing just that. These grants will enable states\nto help even more parents go to work and succeed on the job. I\nurge states to use these resources to provide the necessary\nsupport from child care to transportation to training that\ncan make a critical difference between welfare checks and\npaychecks.\nWe've also worked hard to help families leaving welfare\nmeet the challenge of affordable health care. In the bipartisan\nbudget package I will soon sign, we will extend Medicaid coverage\nso that thousands of parents who leave welfare can keep the\nhealth coverage protecting them and their children. This budget\nalso includes funding to help cover more uninsured children,\nspeed coverage for patients with Lou Gehrig's disease, and\nincrease payments to hospitals, teaching facilities, home health\nagencies and nursing homes, in order to ensure quality health\ncare.\nWe have also secured an extra $817 million to help\nworking families afford child care, to meet their\nresponsibilities both at work and at home. These and other child\ncare resources will serve over 2.2 million children next year.\nIn this budget, we're also passing our historic new\nmarkets and community renewal initiative, the most significant\neffort ever to help hard-pressed communities lift themselves up\nthrough private investment and entrepreneurship. With the help\nof our New Markets tax credit, 40 strengthened empowerment zones\nand 40 renewal communities, this initiative will spur billions\nand billions of dollars in private investment to communities that\nhave not yet shared in our nation's great economic revival.\nFrom the streets of our central cities, to the hills of\nAppalachia, to the rugged vistas of our Native American\nreservations, to the Mississippi Delta, we are giving people the\ntools of opportunity to make the most of their potential.\nFinally, this budget also includes vital investments in\nour children and their education. With over $900 million\ndedicated, for the very first time, to school renovation,\nthousands of local school districts finally will be able to give\nour children the classrooms they deserve.\nWe've increased funding by 25 percent to stay on track\nto hire 100,000 highly-qualified new teachers, to reduce class\nsize in the early grades. We have nearly doubled funding for\nafter school programs, to help more than 1.3 million students,\nwhile increasing support for teacher training and for turning\naround failing schools. And to open the doors of college even\nwider, so that more of our young people can walk through them,\nwe've increased the maximum Pell Grant to an all-time high of\n$3,750. That's up nearly $1,500 since 1993.\nIf we continue to invest in our people and create\nopportunities for them, if we continue to honor and reward work,\nour possibilities are truly without limit. By reaching out and\nworking together, our best days still lie ahead. This budget\nproves it. The work of the American people prove it. The\nsuccessful desire of people to move from welfare to work proves\nit.\nThanks for listening.\nEND\nMessage Sent To:\nPRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES WELFARE REFORM ACHIEVEMENTS\nAND BUDGET WINS FOR AMERICA'S FAMILIES\nDecember 16, 2000 - draft as of 12/15 9:30 a.m.\nToday in his weekly radio address, President Clinton will announce significant achievements for\nthe American people in the recent budget agreement and new progress in moving people from\nwelfare to work. The President will announce that welfare caseloads have dropped by over 8\nmillion recipients or nearly 60 percent since he took office, to the lowest level in over three\ndecades, and will announce $200 million in bonuses to states with the best performance in placing\nwelfare recipients in jobs and helping them succeed in the workforce. To build on this success,\nPresident Clinton will call on states to invest available resources and use the flexibility provided\nby this Administration to help even more parents on welfare enter the workforce and to support\nworking families. President Clinton also will amnounce new achievements in the bipartisan FY\n2001 budget agreement to expand access to health coverage and child care, increase investment in\nhard-pressed communities, and invest in hig' quality education for our nation's young people.\nWELFARE CASELOADS CUT NEARLY 60 PERCENT SINCE 1993. The President will\nrelease new data showing that welfare caseloads have dropped by 8.3 million or nearly 60 percent\nsince 1993, from 14.1 million to 5.8 million recipients as of June 2000. Since the welfare reform\nlaw was signed in August 1996, caseloads have declined by more than half (52 percent). These\ndramatic caseload reductions bring welfare caseloads to the lowest level since 1968 and the\nproportion of the total U.S. population on welfare is down to 2.1 percent, the lowest in 37 years.\nBONUSES AWARDED TO STATES FOR WELFARE TO WORK SUCCESS. The\nPresident will announce that 27 states and the District of Columbia will share $200 million in\nbonuses for superior results in reforming welfare. This is the second year that the high\nperformance bonuses, which the President fought hard to authorize in the 1996 welfare reform\nlaw, will be given to the states with the best results and greatest improvement in moving parents\nfrom welfare into jobs and promoting their success in the workforce, measured by job retention\nand earnings gains. The states ranked the highest in each category are Idaho (job placement),\nArizona (job success), Arkansas (biggest improvement in job placement) and Wisconsin (biggest\nimprovement in job success). Other states that were in the top ten for one or more of these\ncategories and will receive bonuses are: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District\nof Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New\nJersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West\nVirginia, and Wyoming. Nine of these states will receive bonuses in more than one category, with\nArkansas, Hawaii and Wisconsin winning in three categories. In August, the Department of Health\nand Human Services released a final rule that will add new measures for future high performance\nbonuses, offering incentives for states to provide health coverage, food stamps and child care for\neligible families and to encourage the formation of two parent families.\n[AR: CAN WE ABBREVIATE STATES?]\nNEW DATA SHOW MILLIONS GOING TO WORK. According to reports filed by the 48\nstates and D.C. competing for the bonus, 1.2 million welfare recipients nationwide went to work in\nthe one year period between October 1998 and September 1999 alone. Retention rates were also\npromising: 77 percent of those who got jobs were still working three months later. States reported\nan average earnings increase of 31 percent for former welfare recipients, from $2,027 in the first\nquarter of employment to $2,647 in the third quarter. This builds on the President's announcement\nearlier this year that all 50 states and the D.C. met the overall work participation rates for all\nfamilies in 1999. The national percentage of adults still on welfare who were working reached a\nrecord 33 percent in 1999, nearly five times more than in 1992.\nThese remarkable employment gains have been maintained even with record caseload declines\nmoving many of the more job-ready welfare recipients off the rolls, because all levels of\ngovernment, the private sector and welfare recipients themselves have all done their part. The\nWelfare to Work Partnership, launched in 1997, has grown from 5 founding companies to over\n20,000 business partners, who have hired an estimated 1.1 million former welfare recipients.\nUnder Vice President Gore's leadership, the federal government has also done its fair share, hiring\nnearly 50,000 parents off of welfare. And, with support from states and communities, families\nacross America are now working and taking responsibility for their children. Child support\ncollections have doubled since 1992, the poverty rate is the lowest in 20 years, and teen birth rates\nare at the lowest level in the 60 years on record.\nBUDGET VICTORIES FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. After long negotiations with\nCongress, President Clinton announced new achievements in the bipartisan FY 2001 budget\nagreement to support working families, children and communities. The agreement extends\ntransitional Medicaid so that thousands of parents who leave welfare can maintain health coverage\nfor themselves and their children as they go to work; covers more uninsured children; and takes\nsteps to improve the quality of health care. The budget also increases child care funding by a\nrecord $817 million, provides Head Start to 950,000 children, and sets aside funds to improve the\nquality of early care and education. The President fought for and won funding to promote billions\nof dollars of new investment and job creation in our hardest-pressed communities through the\nNew Markets Initiative. And this year's budget significantly increased funding for education, with\nover $900 million for school renovation, increased funding to hire new teachers and reduce class\nsize, nearly doubled funding for afterschool programs to reach more than 1.3 students, and\nincreased support for teacher training. [KK/AR - THIS IS A PLACEHOLDER FOR\nHOWEVER YOU WANT TO DESCRIBE BUDGET WINS]\nBUILDING ON A RECORD OF SUCCESS. Since taking office, the Clinton-Gore\nAdministration has significantly expanded critical supports for working families, raising the\nminimum wage, expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, doubling child care funding, improving\naccess to jobs by supporting creative local transportation solutions, and giving families strong\nincentives and new opportunities to move from welfare to work. This year alone, the\nAdministration worked with Congress to: secure 79,000 new rental housing vouchers, bringing the\nAdministration's total to nearly 200,000; enact important changes to the Food Stamp Program,\nmaking it easier to own a reliable car and recognizing the impact of high housing costs on low-\nincome working families; invest $25 million to help low-income families save through Individual\nDevelopment Accounts?; and provide states, communities and nonprofits with an additional two\nyears to utilize existing Welfare-to-Work funds to help long term welfare recipients and\nnoncustodial parents work and support their children. [OMB - OK to 'announce' IDAs and WtW\nextension in L/H deal here?]\nThe President also fought hard for a number of common sense measures to help people who work\nhard and play by the rules that were not enacted by Congress this year. The Administration is\ndisappointed that Congress did not act to restore health coverage and food stamps to certain legal\nimmigrants, promote responsible fatherhood, or ensure that more child support goes directly to\nfamilies. [OTHER LOSSES TO HIGHLIGHT?]\nDraft 12/14/00 4:15 p.m.\nJohn Pollack\nPRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON\nRADIO ADDRESS ON\nWELFARE-TO-WORK AWARDS\nAND BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nDecember 16, 2000\nGood morning. Now that our hard-fought election is finally over, we can begin to focus\nagain on the issues that unite us: how to build upon our remarkable prosperity, and how to keep\nextending the circle of opportunity until it embraces every citizen and every community across\nour country. For millions of Americans, these past eight years have been a time of remarkable\n?\nopportunity especially for those families who have moved from welfare to work.\noverstatement\nVice President Gore and I took office in 1993 with a pledge to \"end welfare as we know\nit.\" Thanks to comprehensive welfare reform, a renewed sense of responsibility, and the\nstrongest economy in a generation, more than eight million Americans have left welfare behind\nto build better lives - including 1.2 million last year alone. America's welfare rolls have been\ncut in half, and are now the lowest they've been in three decades.\nMoving from welfare to work is not always easy. There is no single path anlusing to success. And\nFlox\nwill\nprovided\nin a country as big and diverse as ours, it's no surprise that different states have discovered\ndifferent ways to help people find and keep jobs to support their families.\nToday I want to recognize this nationwide effort, especially in the 28 states that are\ncontributing the most to our success. To help these states keep the momentum going, I am proud tax\nto award them a total of $200 million in high-performance bonuses. These awards will enable\ncredits?\nstates to help even more parents who want to work get jobs and keep them They will help states\nprovide necessary supports - from child care to van pools to job training - that can make the\ncritical difference between a welfare check and a paycheck.\nthe\ntransportation\nWe've also worked hard to help families leaving welfare meet the challenge of affordable\nhealth care. In a bipartisan budget deal we just concluded with Congress, we are extending\nMedicaid so that thousands of parents who leave welfare can keep the health coverage protecting\nthem and their children. This budget also includes funding to help cover more uninsured\nchildren, to expand home health care, and to invest in hospitals and nursing homes that serve\nlow-income communities. This is another important step in our efforts to ensure that everyone\nwho works hard and plays by the rules has access to health care.\nThis budget deal also includes significant funding for our New Markets Initiative, a\ncatalyst to generate billions of dollars in private investment in those communities that have not\nyet shared in our great economic revival. From the streets of our central cities, to the hills of\nAppalachia, to the rugged vistas of our Native American reservations, we need to give people the\ntools of opportunity, so they can make the most of their God-given potential. We also need to\nexpand abusiness\ngive businesses the same incentives to invest in our hardest-pressed communities that they get to\ninvest in developing nations. This is right thing to do, and the smart thing to do, to keep our\neconomy growing.\nThe budget agreement also invests in our children and their education. With over $1.2\nbillion dedicated to school renovation, thousands of local school districts will finally be able to\ngive our children the classrooms they deserve. And with funding for class size reduction up over\n25 percent, we'll be able to help more of our kids get the individual attention they need to make\nthe most of their time in school. We've nearly doubled funding for after school programs, and\nincreased support for teacher training, too. And to open the doors of college even wider - so that\nmore of our young people can walk through them - we have increased the maximum Pell Grant\nto an all-time high of $3,750 - up nearly $1,500 since 1993.\nIf we keep investing in our people and creating opportunities, if we continue to honor and\nreward work, America's possibilities are truly without limit. By reaching out and working\ntogether, I am confident that America's best days still lie ahead.\nThanks for listening.\nDraft 12/14/00 8:55 p.m.\nJohn Pollack\nPRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON\nRADIO ADDRESS ON\nWELFARE CASELOAD REDUCTIONS\nAND BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nDecember 16, 2000\nGood morning. This week, as I worked to conclude the last budget negotiations of my\nPresidency, I was reminded how far we have come these past eight years. We now live in a time\nof unprecedented peace and prosperity, but we didn't get here by accident. We made tough\nchoices based on our core values of opportunity for all, responsibility from all, and a community\nof all Americans. Today I want to talk about two elements critical to our continued success. First,\nour progress in moving people from welfare to work; and second, our commitment to fiscal\ndiscipline and a budget that puts people first.\nVice President Gore and I took office in 1993 with a pledge to \"end welfare as we know\nit.\" Thanks to comprehensive welfare reform, a renewed sense of responsibility, and the\nstrongest economy in a generation, millions of former welfare recipients now know the dignity of\nwork.\nToday, I am pleased to announce that - over the past eight years -we have cut our\nwelfare caseload by more than 8 million people. Last year alone, 1.2 million parents on welfare\nwent to work, determined to build better lives. Nationwide, welfare rolls have been cut by nearly\n60 percent, and are now the lowest in more than three decades.\nWe have been able to sustain this progress year after year because government, the\nprivate sector and welfare recipients themselves have all done their part. Together, we are finally\nbreaking the cycle of dependence that has long crippled the hopes of too many families.\nget\nWhen we enacted landmark welfare reform in 1996, I insisted that Congress provide\nincentives to reward states for helping people find and keep jobs. Today, I am pleased to\nannounce that 28 states will receive $200 million in bonuses for doing just that. These grants\nwill enable states to help even more parents go to work and succeed on the job. I urge states to\nuse these resources to provide necessary supports - from child care to transportation to training -\nthat can make the critical difference between a welfare check and a paycheck.\nWe've also worked hard to help families leaving welfare meet the challenge of affordable\nhealth care. In the bipartisan budget package I will soon sign, we will extend Medicaid coverage\nso that thousands of parents who leave welfare can keep the health coverage protecting them and\ntheir children. This budget also includes funding to help cover more uninsured children. speed\n?\ncoverage for patients with Lou Gehrig's disease, and increase payments to hospitals, teaching\nfacilities, home health agencies and nursing homes, in order to ensure quality health care.\nWe have also secured an extra $817 million to help working families afford child\ncare and meet their responsibilities at home and at work. These and other child care\nresources will serve over 2.2 million children next year.\njobs\nTo expand the circle of economic opportunity in our hardest-pressed communities, this\nbudget includes funding for our New Markets Initiative - a catalyst for billions of dollars in\nprivate investment in communities that have not yet shared in our great economic revival. From\nthe streets of our central cities, to the hills of Appalachia, to the rugged vistas of our Native\nAmerican reservations, we need to give people the tools of opportunity, so they can make the\nmost of their potential. That means giving businesses strong incentives to invest in our hardest-\npressed communities. This is the right thing to do, and the smart thing to do, to keep our\neconomy growing.\nThis budget deal also includes vital investments in our children and their education. With\nover $900 million dedicated to school renovation, thousands of local school districts will finally\nbe able to give our children the classrooms they deserve. We've increased funding by 25 percent\nto stay on track to hire 100,000 new teachers to reduce class size. We've nearly doubled funding\nfor after-school programs to help more than 1.3 million students, while increasing support for\nteacher training, and turning around failing schools. And to open the doors of college even wider\n- so that more of our young people can walk through them - we have increased the maximum\nPell Grant to an all-time high of $3,750 - up nearly $1,500 since 1993.\nIf we keep investing in our people and creating opportunities, if we continue to honor and\nreward work, America's possibilities are truly without limit. By reaching out and working\ntogether, I am confident that America's best days still lie ahead.\nThanks for listening.\nHPB\nCopyright 2000 The Deseret News Publishing Co.\nThe Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT)\nDecember 17, 2000, Sunday\nSECTION: WIRE;\nPg. A03\nLENGTH: 390 words\nHEADLINE: Clinton hails drop in welfare cases\nBYLINE: Reuters News Service\nBODY:\nWASHINGTON President Clinton said Saturday the number of people on welfare has dropped by more than 8\nmillion during his presidency, a nearly 60 percent fall in eight years that has brought welfare rolls to their lowest level\nin 30 years.\nClinton also hailed the new budget passed by Congress that will provide hundreds of millions of dollars to offer health\ninsurance to the poor, revive poor communities and renovate schools.\n\"Our best days still lie ahead. This budget proves it. The successful desire of people to move from welfare to work\nproves it,\" Clinton said.\nBut Republicans took issue with Clinton's claiming credit for the welfare reform law, which was put forth by\nCongress.\n\"As I recall, Democrats went kicking and screaming into welfare reform,\" said Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts, chairman\nof the House Republican Conference. \"Doom and gloom was predicted as far as the eye could see. Republicans were\naccused of wanting to starve children and throw grandparents in the street.\" Watts said in retrospect, the predictions\nlooked \"silly.\"\nAs part of his address, Clinton announced that 28 states would receive grants totaling $200 million to support child\ncare and job-training programs in order to encourage more welfare recipients to move into the work force.\n\"Over the past eight years, we've cut welfare case loads by more than 8 million people. Last year alone, 1.2 million\nparents on welfare went to work determined to build better lives,\" he added.\n\"We are finally breaking the cycle of dependence that has long crippled the hopes of too many families,\" he said.\nThe president, who steps down on Jan. 20, also praised the long overdue $1.8 trillion budget passed by Congress late\nFriday to fund the government for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.\nClinton cited several areas where Congress provided money for his key priorities, including $900 million to renovate\nschools, $817 million to help working families to pay for child care and funding for his \"new markets\" initiative to bring\ninvestment to blighted rural and urban communities.\n\"From the streets of our central cities, to the hills of Appalachia, to the rugged vistas of our Native American\nreservations to the Mississippi Delta we are giving people the tools of opportunity to make the most of their potential,\"\nhe said.\nLOAD-DATE: December 17, 2000\nCopyright 2000 / Los Angeles Times\nLos Angeles Times\nDecember 17, 2000, Sunday, Home Edition\nSECTION: Part A; Part 1; Page 30; National Desk\nLENGTH: 133 words\nHEADLINE: NATION IN BRIEF / WASHINGTON, D.C.;\nCLINTON TOUTS 60% DROP IN WELFARE ROLLS\nBYLINE: From Times Wire Reports\nBODY:\nPresident Clinton, pointing to achievements in his final budget, said welfare rolls fell by more than 60% during his\neight years in office. He also announced $200 million in bonus money as a reward to states where welfare recipients\nfound and kept jobs.\n\"If we continue to invest in our people and create opportunities for them, if we continue to honor and reward work, our\npossibilities are truly without limit,\" Clinton said in his weekly radio address. He added that as a result of welfare\nchanges he promoted, \"millions of former welfare recipients now know the dignity of work.\" The president hoped states\nwould use the bonus money for support programs, such as child care, transportation and job training that can make \"a\ncritical difference between welfare checks and paychecks.\"\nLOAD-DATE: December 17, 2000\nCopyright 2000 The New York Times Company\nThe New York Times\nDecember 17, 2000, Sunday, Late Edition - Final\nSECTION: Section 1; Page 41; Column 1; National Desk\nLENGTH: 291 words\nHEADLINE: Welfare Rolls Fell Steadily In His Tenure, Clinton Says\nBYLINE: Reuters\nDATELINE: WASHINGTON, Dec. 16\nBODY:\nPresident Clinton said today that more than eight million people had left the welfare rolls during his presidency, a\nnearly 60 percent drop.\nSpeaking in one of his last weekly radio addresses, Mr. Clinton also hailed the new budget passed by Congress for\nproviding hundreds of millions of dollars to offer health insurance to the poor, revive poor communities and renovate\nschools.\n\"Our best days still lie ahead. This budget proves it,\" he said. \"The successful desire of people to move from welfare\nto work proves it,\" Mr. Clinton said in the address taped on Friday and broadcast today.\n\"Over the past eight years, we've cut welfare case loads by more than eight million people. Last year alone, 1.2\nmillion parents on welfare went to work determined to build better lives,\" he added, saying welfare rolls had fallen\nnearly 60 percent since 1993 to their lowest level in 30 years.\n\"We are finally breaking the cycle of dependence that has long crippled the hopes of too many families,\" he said.\nThe president, who steps down on Jan. 20, also hailed the long overdue $1.8 trillion budget passed by Congress on\nFriday night to pay for the government for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.\nMr. Clinton cited several areas where Congress provided money for his priorities, including $900 million to renovate\nschools, $817 million to help working families pay for child care and funding for his \"new markets\" initiative to bring\ninvestment to blighted rural and urban communities.\n\"From the streets of our central cities, to the hills of Appalachia, to the rugged vistas of our Native American\nreservations to the Mississippi Delta, we are giving people the tools of opportunity to make the most of their potential,\"\nhe said.\nhttp://www.nytimes.com\nLOAD-DATE: December 17, 2000\nCopyright 2000 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.\nSt. Louis Post-Dispatch\nDecember 17, 2000, Sunday, FIVE STAR LIFT EDITION\nSECTION: NEWS, Pg. A12\nLENGTH: 528 words\nHEADLINE: CLINTON LAUDS SUCCESS IN MOVING PEOPLE OFF WELFARE ROLLS\nBYLINE: The Associated Press\nDATELINE: WASHINGTON\nBODY:\nPresident Bill Clinton said Saturday that welfare rolls fell by nearly 60 percent during his eight years in office, and he\nannounced $200 million in bonus money as a reward to states where welfare recipients found and kept jobs.\nIn his weekly radio address, Clinton also said his administration's commitment to fiscal discipline has resulted in \"the\nstrongest economy in a generation.\"\n\"If we continue to invest in our people and create opportunities for them, if we continue to honor and reward work,\nour possibilities are truly without limit,\" Clinton said, one day after Congress approved his final budget.\nClinton said that as a result of welfare changes he promoted, \"Millions of former welfare recipients now know the\ndignity of work.\"\nOver the past eight years, he said, welfare case loads have been cut by more than 8 million people. \"Last year alone,\n1.2 million parents on welfare went to work, determined to build better lives,\" Clinton said.\n\"Nationwide over the last eight years, welfare rolls have dropped nearly 60 percent, and now are the lowest in more\nthan 30 years,\" he said.\nThe White House said just 2.7 percent of the population is on welfare - the lowest rate in 37 years. [NOTE from AK -\nshould be 2.1 percent - I've alerted AP]\nClinton said that when Congress adopted welfare reform legislation in 1996, he insisted on incentives to states to help\npeople moving off welfare find and keep jobs.\nThe president hoped states would use the bonus money for support programs, such as child care, transportation and\njob training that can make \"a critical difference between welfare checks and paychecks.\"\nIn the GOP response, Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., chairman of the House Republican Conference, claimed welfare\nreform as a Republican vision.\n\"Republicans were accused of wanting to starve children and throw grandparents in the streets,\" he said. \"We stepped\nup to the plate and not only got the job done, but got it done right.\"\nAlthough many Democrats opposed drastic changes in the welfare system, Clinton campaigned in 1992 to \"end\nwelfare as we know it.\" He has voiced regret in interviews that he did not press welfare reform earlier in his\nadministration, in part as a means of broadening the party's appeal to conservative voters.\nThe Senate and House voted Friday to approve the year's final spending package. It provides $450 billion for hiring\nteachers, health research, and for Medicare and other programs. Also included were provisions to help about 1 million\nimmigrants who want to remain in the United States, and a $25.8 billion, 10-year mix of tax cuts aimed at creating jobs\nand spurring investment in poor communities.\nCiting those and other successes, Clinton said the new budget will include money to help cover more uninsured poor\nchildren, extend Medicaid coverage to thousands of poor parents leaving welfare, and increase payments to hospitals,\nhome health agencies and nursing homes.\n\"We have also secured an extra $817 million to help working families afford child care, to meet their responsibilities\nboth at work and at home,\" he said.\n\"By reaching out and working together, our best days still lie ahead. This budget proves it.\"\nNOTES: THE BUSH TRANSITION\nLANGUAGE: English\nLOAD-DATE: December 17, 2000\nCopyright 2000 The Washington Post\nThe Washington Post\nDecember 17, 2000, Sunday, Final Edition\nSECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A13\nLENGTH: 416 words\nHEADLINE: President Hails Reform Of Welfare; 60% Drop in Rolls Cited; Budget Lauded\nBODY:\nPresident Clinton said yesterday that more than 8 million people have left welfare during his presidency, a nearly 60\npercent drop in eight years that has brought welfare rolls to their lowest level in 30 years.\nIn one of his last weekly radio addresses, Clinton also hailed the new budget passed by Congress that will provide\nhundreds of millions of dollars to offer health insurance to the poor, revive poor communities and renovate schools.\n\"Our best days still lie ahead. This budget proves it.\nThe successful desire of people to move from welfare to work\nproves it,\" Clinton said.\nBut Republicans took issue with Clinton's claiming credit for the welfare reform law, which was put forth by the\nRepublican-led Congress and then signed by Clinton.\n\"As I recall, Democrats went kicking and screaming into welfare reform,\" said Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts, chairman\nof the House Republican Conference. \"Doom and gloom was predicted as far as the eye could see. Republicans were\naccused of wanting to starve children and throw grandparents in the street.\"\nWatts said that, in retrospect, the predictions look \"silly.\"\nAs part of his address, Clinton announced that 28 states would receive grants totaling $200 million to support child-\ncare and job-training programs to encourage more welfare recipients to move into the work force.\n\"Over the past eight years we've cut welfare caseloads by more than 8 million people. Last year alone, 1.2 million\nparents on welfare went to work determined to build better lives,\" he added, saying welfare rolls had fallen nearly 60\npercent since 1993 to their lowest level in 30 years.\n\"We are finally breaking the cycle of dependence that has long crippled the hopes of too many families,\" he said.\nThe president, who steps down Jan. 20, also praised the long-overdue $1.8 trillion budget passed by Congress late\nFriday to fund the government for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.\nClinton cited several areas where Congress provided money for his key priorities, including $900 million to renovate\nschools, $817 million to help working families pay for child care and funding for his \"New Markets\" initiative to bring\ninvestment to blighted rural and urban communities.\n\"From the streets of our central cities, to the hills of Appalachia, to the rugged vistas of our Native American\nreservations to the Mississippi Delta, we are giving people the tools of opportunity to make the most of their potential,\"\nhe said.\nLOAD-DATE: December 17, 2000\nThe Associated Press State & Local Wire\nThe materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These materials may not be republished without\nthe express written consent of The Associated Press.\nDecember 16, 2000, Saturday, BC cycle\nSECTION: State and Regional; Washington Dateline\nLENGTH: 361 words\nHEADLINE: On radio, Clinton lauds his administration's final budget accord\nBYLINE: By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer\nDATELINE: WASHINGTON\nBODY:\nPresident Clinton on Saturday called the final budget deal of his administration a spending plan that puts people first\nand lauded the bipartisan effort that Congress put into the document.\n\"By reaching out and working together, our best days still lie ahead,\" Clinton said in his weekly radio address. \"This\nbudget proves it.\"\nThe Senate and House voted Friday to approve a final package of spending exceeding $450 billion for hiring\nteachers, health research, Medicare and other programs. Also included were provisions to help about 1 million\nimmigrants who want to remain in the United States, and a $25.8 billion, 10-year mix of tax cuts aimed at creating jobs,\nspurring investment and cleaning up dozens of poor communities.\nClinton said he will sign the package soon. \"If we continue to invest in our people and create opportunities for them, if\nwe continue to honor and reward work, our possibilities are truly without limit,\" he said.\nThe president described several parts of the budget deal in his address, including the extension of the Medicaid\npackage and the increase in education funding. \"With over $900 million dedicated, for the very first time, to school\nrenovation, thousands of local school districts finally will be able to give our children the classrooms they deserve,\" he\nsaid.\nPart of the budget package also will create a \"New Markets\" tax credit for investments in entities involved in\ndevelopment in low-income areas. About $8 billion in investments would be eligible for the credit over the next seven\nyears.\n\"From the streets of our central cities, to the hills of Appalachia, to the rugged vistas of our Native American\nreservations, to the Mississippi Delta, we are giving people the tools of opportunity to make the most of their potential,\"\nClinton said.\nHe also announced that 28 states will receive $200 million in grants helping people get off welfare, find jobs and keep\nthem. \"I urge states to use these resources to provide the necessary support - from child care to transportation to training\n- that can make a critical difference between welfare checks and pay checks,\" he said.\nLOAD-DATE: December 17, 2000\nThe Associated Press\nThe materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These materials may not be republished without\nthe express written consent of The Associated Press.\nDecember 16, 2000, Saturday, BC cycle\nSECTION: Washington Dateline\nLENGTH: 580 words\nHEADLINE: President praises budget deal, rewards states for welfare progress\nBYLINE: By LAWRENCE L. KNUTSON, Associated Press Writer\nDATELINE: WASHINGTON\nBODY:\nPresident Clinton, pointing to achievements in his final budget, said Saturday that welfare rolls have fallen by more\nthan 60 percent during his eight years in office. He also announced $200 million in bonus money as a reward to states\nwhere welfare recipients found and kept jobs.\nIn his weekly radio address, Clinton also said his administration's commitment to fiscal discipline has resulted in \"the\nstrongest economy in a generation.\"\n\"If we continue to invest in our people and create opportunities for them, if we continue to honor and reward work,\nour possibilities are truly without limit,\" Clinton said, one day after Congress approved his final budget.\nClinton said that as a result of welfare changes he promoted, \"millions of former welfare recipients now know the\ndignity of work.\"\nOver the past eight years, he said, welfare case loads have been cut by more than 8 million people. \"Last year alone,\n1.2 million parents on welfare went to work, determined to build better lives,\" Clinton said.\n\"Nationwide over the last eight years, welfare rolls have dropped nearly 60 percent, and now are the lowest in more\nthan 30 years,\" he said.\nThe White House said the caseload is at its lowest since 1968 and just 2.7 percent of the population is on welfare the\nlowest rate in 37 years.\nClinton noted that when Congress adopted welfare reform legislation in 1996, he insisted on incentives to states to\nhelp people moving off welfare find and keep jobs.\nThe president hoped states would use the bonus money for support programs such as child care, transportation and job\ntraining that can make \"a critical difference between welfare checks and paychecks.\"\nIn response, Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., chairman of the House Republican Conference, claimed welfare reform as a\nRepublican vision.\n\"Republicans were accused of wanting to starve children and throw grandparents in the streets,\" he said. \"We stepped\nup to the plate and not only got the job done, but got it done right.\"\nAlthough many Democrats opposed drastic changes in the welfare system, Clinton campaigned in 1992 to \"end\nwelfare as we know it.\" He has voiced regret in interviews that he did not press welfare reform earlier in his\nadministration, in part as a means of broadening the party's appeal to conservative voters.\nThe Senate and House voted Friday to approve the year's final spending package, a bill providing $450 billion for\nhiring teachers, health research, and for Medicare and other programs. Also included were provisions to help about 1\nmillion immigrants who want to remain in the United States, and a $25.8 billion, 10-year mix of tax cuts aimed at\ncreating jobs and spurring investment in poor communities.\nCiting those and other successes, Clinton said the new budget will include money to help cover more uninsured poor\nchildren, extend Medicaid coverage to thousands of poor parents leaving welfare, and increase payments to hospitals,\nhome health agencies and nursing homes.\n\"We have also secured an extra $817 million to help working families afford child care, to meet their responsibilities\nboth at work and at home,\" he said.\nChildren, and the quality of the education they receive, also are targets of federal dollars for school repairs, hiring\nmore teachers, reducing class size and expanding after school programs.\n\"By reaching out and working together, our best days still lie ahead,\" Clinton said. \"This budget proves it.\"\nLOAD-DATE: December 17, 2000\nCopyright 2000 U.P.I.\nUnited Press International\nDecember 16, 2000, Saturday\nSECTION: GENERAL NEWS\nLENGTH: 532 words\nHEADLINE: Clinton hails budget deal, touts welfare reform\nDATELINE: WASHINGTON, Dec. 16\nBODY:\nPresident Bill Clinton Saturday praised social programs in the newly passed budget and reflected on his\nadministration's efforts to reduce welfare rolls, which he said had dropped by 8 million people during his White House\ntenure.\nSpeaking in one of his last weekly radio addresses, Clinton unveiled $200 million in federal grants to 28 states to help\nstate governments cut welfare cases.\n\"I urge states to use these resources to provide the necessar y support -- from child care to transportation to training --\nthat can make a critical difference between welfare checks and paychecks,\" Clinton said.\nClinton also pointed to social programs in the budget deal that he said showed \"our best days still lie ahead. This\nbudget proves it.\"\n\"In this budget, we're also passing our historic new markets and community renewal initiative, the most significant\neffort ever to help hard-pressed communities lift themselves up through private investment and entrepreneurship,\"\nClinton said. \"This initiative will spur billions and billions of dollars in private investment to communities that have not\nyet shared in our nation's great economic revival.\"\nClinton said the budget also included \"vital investments\" in education, one of his top policy priorities and a major\nsticking point in budget negotiations.\n\"With over $900 million dedicated, for the very first time, to school renovation, thousands of local school districts\nfinally will be able to give our children the classrooms they deserve,\" Clinton said. \"We've increased funding by 25\npercent to stay on track to hire 100,000 highly-qualified new teachers, to reduce class size in the early grades.\"\nOn Friday, lawmakers passed the last pieces of the current fiscal year's long overdue budget and adjourned the 106th\nCongress, after agreeing to add modestly to education and health care spending.\nCongress passed a final \"mini-bus\" as opposed to \"omnibus\" -- appropriations bill that includes nearly $130 billion\nfor a series of federal agencies and $109 billion for health and education programs alone. President Clinton has signaled\nthat he will sign it into law, having wrested significant concessions at every step toward final passage.\nLooking back on past budget negotiations, Clinton contrasted the budget deficits of the early 1990s with today's\nsurpluses and said welfare reform, along with fiscal discipline, brought the change.\n\"Vice President Gore and I took office in 1993 with a pledge to end welfare as we know it,\" Clinton said. \"Thanks to\ncomprehensive reform, a renewed sense of responsibility, and the strongest economy in a generation, millions of former\nwelfare recipients now know the dignity of work..\"\nBut Republicans took issue with Clinton's characterization of welfare reform, saying the GOP Congress drove policy\nchanges, not the Clinton administration.\n\"Let's remember that welfare reform was one of the key issues the Republican majority, including myself, was elected\non in 1994,\" said House Republican Conference Chairman J.C. Watts, R-Ok., who responded to Clinton's radio address\nwith a written statement. \"As I recall, Democrats went kicking and screaming into welfare reform.\"+\nLOAD-DATE: December 17, 2000"
}