I am pleased to speak in support of the provisions in the Balanced Budget Act that strengthen the welfare reform law signed into law last August by our President. We have made several improvements to our new welfare system. improvements that reinforce the value of work. not the dependence on welfare. These changes also reflect a goodfaith compromise that was made with the President on the transition from welfare to work for noncitizens. Our new bill maintains our basic policy on the matter of welfare and workfare for noncitizens as a policy that is based on the belief that taxpayerfunded assistance should be reserved for people who are citizens of the United States. The budget reaffirms that people who come to America will be welcome to pursue the opportunities of our great Nation. but not to go on welfare. We encourage those individuals to seek support not from the taxpayer but from their relatives and their sponsors. as has long been the law in this Nation. We came to a compromise. Mr. Speaker. on the issue of benefits for elderly and for disabled noncitizens who were already receiving assistance before the welfare reform bill was passed last August. To them this bill says: You will not be asked to play by different rules. The rules of the game will be the same. If you were in a nursing home on August 22. 1996. you will retain that benefit. If you were receiving SSI last August 22. you will continue to receive that assistance. We have set $9 billion aside. and I will make that loud and clear. noncitizens getting benefits on August 22. 1996. are grandfathered. period. In the era of the minimum wage. we guarantee that those on workfare will receive the minimum wage. but we also believe in calculating this minimum wage that food stamps as well as cash be considered. That total will determine how many hours of work a person will work.
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