DeLauro Announces Opposition to Political, Partisan Welfare Legislation

Calls On House Republicans to Stop Wasting Time, StartActing To Create Jobs

WASHINGTON, DC-- Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) todayannounced her opposition to the political, partisan legislation brought up bythe Republican Majority. The bill would overturn the ObamaAdministration's proposal to provide states with flexibility to get moreAmericans working. House Republicans have chosen to bring up this billinstead of working on job creation or taking steps to strengthen the middleclass.

"I once again oppose this political bill, whose sole purposeis to mischaracterize the administration's position on Temporary Assistance toNeedy Families. We saw this issue come up last September. It was a wasteof our time then – It is a waste of our time now.

"The administration is proposing waivers in order to allowstates to test alternative and innovative strategies that might improveemployment outcomes for needy families. As the Department of Health and HumanServices has said repeatedly, waivers will only be approved if a state canprove that there is an effective transition from welfare to work – that theyare putting more people to work.

"That is why in 2005, 29 Republican governors – includingthen-Governor Mitt Romney – wrote a letter requesting more "flexibility tomanage their TANF programs" and "increased waiver authority." This is exactlywhat the administration's waiver proposal does.

"We had an election last November in which voters decisivelyvoted against exactly this sort of Republican gamesmanship. The American peoplewant us to create jobs and get the economy moving again. But this Majorityseems to have learned nothing from November. Instead, they are still puttingforward the same stale, politically motivated resolutions as the last Congress.

"The American people expect better leadership from us."