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OCR Page 1 of 33DRAFT
June 9, 1994
THE PRESIDENT'S WELFARE REFORM PLAN
THE VALUES OF REFORM:
WORK AND RESPONSIBILITY
[The following (pp. 1-7) is Bruce's rewrite of the introduction (with minor revisions). Melissa
will be editing it from a Public Affairs' perspective, but other edits are welcome.]
The current welfare system is at odds with the core values Americans share: work, family,
opportunity, responsibility. Instead of rewarding and encouraging work, it does little to help people
find work, and punishes those who go to work. Instead of strengthening families and instilling
personal responsibility, the system penalizes two-parent families, and lets too many absent parents
who owe child support off the hook. Instead of promoting self-sufficiency, the culture of welfare
offices seems to create an expectation of dependence rather than independence. And the ones who
hate the welfare system most are the people who are trapped by it.
It is time to end welfare as we know it, and replace it with a system that is based on work and
responsibility. We need to move beyond the old debates over "something for nothing" on the one
hand and "every one for him/herself" on the other, and offer a new social contract [do we want to
use word 'contract' repeatedly?] that gives people more opportunity in return for more
responsibility. Work is the best social program this country has ever devised; it gives hope and
structure and meaning to our daily lives. Responsibility is the value that will enable individuals and
parents to do what programs cannot--because governments don't raise children, people do.
The President's welfare reform plan is designed to reinforce these fundamental values. It rewards
work over welfare. It signals that people should not have children until they are ready to support
them, and that parents--both parents--who bring children into the world must take responsibility for
raising them. It gives people access to the skills they need, but expects work in return. Most
important, it will give people back the dignity that comes from work and independence.
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