Speech #1040253844

In a rush to deliver a welfare reform billany welfare billbefore the November elections. this bill is the moral equivalent of a dear John letter to our Nations needy children. Under this bill. 3.3 million children nationwide and 1.8 million children in California could lose AFDC after the 5year limit. Children of undocumented immigrants would not even be allowed to buy federally subsidized school lunches. Recent studies by Children Now and the Urban Institute estimated that this welfare plan would thrust an additional 1.1 million children into poverty conditions in the United States. The Senate rejected moderate amendments sought by the White House as well as members of both parties to provide noncash assistance to children whose parents lose their benefits *in the form of vouchers for food. clothing and other basic necessities. The voucher language included in the conference report is an emptyhanded gesture allowing states to rob Peter to pay Paul because it adds no new funds to provide basic necessities to children whose parents lose benefits. The major cost shift to California comes from the elimination of Federal assistance for legal immigrants. most of whom are elderly. blind. and disabledall of them poorwho came to this country under terms agreed to by the Federal Government. And yet. the Federal Government will not bear the cost of changing the terms of that dealthe cost of this policy shift will be forced onto States and counties. Let me be clear: I am all for changing U.S. immigration policies to hold sponsors of legal immigrants legally bound to provide financial support to their sponsees. But to change this policy on those already in this countryretroactivelyand thus summarily dropping hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled immigrants from Federal support programs like SSI. food stamps. and AFDC onto already overburdened county assistance programs. is not only an abdication of Federal responsibilityto me it is unconscionable. The impact of this cost shift to California counties could be catastrophic. An estimated 722.939 legal immigrants in Californiamany of whom are aged. blind. and elderlywould lose SSI. AFDC. and food stamps under this bill. Los Angeles Countythe most impacted area nationwideestimates that 93.000 noncitizen legal immigrants will lose SSI under this bill. at a potential cost of more than S236 million each year in county general assistance funds. Los Angeles also estimates that the restriction on future immigrants receiving nonemergency Medicaid services would result in S100 million in additional costsmuch higher unless the State comes up with the funds to provide coverage to noncitizens. San Francisco County estimates that the cost of county funded general assistance could increase $74 million under the legal immigrant provisions in this billan increase of more than 250 percent. Other counties in California are studying the impact of this legislation and coming up with similar financial horror stories. Twelve of the top twenty metropolitan areas in the country that are impacted most severely by this bill are in California. The State of California indicated by its budget that it has no ability or intention of stepping in to fill the funding gap this bill creates. Governor Wilsons State budget for fiscal year 19961997 assumes the immigrant provisions in this legislation will pass and legal immigrants will no longer be eligible for assistance. Californias legislative analysts report indicates that Governor Wilsons budget: � . . assumes enactment of federal legislation barring most legal Immigrants from receiving SSI/SSP benefits starting January 1. 1997. The budget assume savings of $91 million from this proposal. That Is from the "Legislative Analysts Report. 199697 Budget." While we in Washington sit in our ivory tower and pat ourselves on the back for changing welfare as we know it. the real impact of this bill will land on real people who are too old or too sick to care for themselves. and whose familiesif they have onehave no ability to help them. Let me put some faces and names on this welfare bill for you: A 73yearold woman who asked not to be named came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam in 1981. She sold everything she owned to pay for her passage on a boat for her and her mother. Her mother died on the trip over.