I rise today in support of H.J.Res. 118, a resolution to disapprove of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule waiving the work requirements in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or TANF cash welfare program. The requirement that 50 percent of a State’s welfare caseload work or prepare for work was a central part of the bipartisan 1996 welfare reforms signed… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) made the following statement after the House voted to disapprove of the Obama Administration’s attempt to undermine the welfare work requirements.  The vote was 250 to 164, with 19 Democrats joining 231 Republicans in rejecting the Administration’s attempts to circumvent Congress and undermine the critical… Read more

Washington, DC - Today, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its latest report on the Obama Administration’s proposal to waive work requirements for welfare recipients, which was announced by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on July 12, 2012.  While a prior GAO report showed the Administration didn’t follow the law when they unilaterally… Read more

On July 12 of this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an “information memorandum” saying they would accept and approve applications from States seeking to waive the work requirement that has been central to the success of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or TANF cash welfare program.   The Administration issued its memorandum despite the fact… Read more

Washington power grabs are nothing new for the Obama administration – from bypassing the Senate to make unconstitutional recess appointments, to efforts by the National Labor Relations Board to force unionization on the American workforce, to attempts to impose costly cap and trade through the Environmental Protection Agency.  But the Obama White House has really… Read more

Good morning. We are meeting today to consider H.J.Res. 118, a resolution to block the Obama Administration from waiving work requirements in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare program. Americans strongly believe that those who are able should work in exchange for receiving federal benefits.  A recent survey revealed that 83 percent support a work… Read more

Myth: HHS has not “gutted” welfare reform. Fact: Work requirements were at the core of welfare reform, and they have been the centerpiece of the law for 16 years. HHS now claims that work requirements are no longer mandatory, and that States can apply to HHS to opt out of the requirements. By claiming these requirements can be waived, HHS is claiming they can rewrite the… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement after the Committee approved, by a vote of 18 to 14, H.J.Res. 118, “Providing for congressional disapproval of the Administration’s July 12, 2012 waiver of welfare work requirements.” “Today’s vote in the Ways and Means Committee moves us one step closer to stopping the Obama… Read more

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI), Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN), and Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) today introduced H.J.Res. 118, a resolution disapproving of President Obama’s effort to roll back the work requirements critical to the success of the bipartisan welfare reform law enacted in 1996.… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released the following statement in reaction to the August jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor.  A net total of only 96,000 jobs were created, the unemployment rate remained above 8 percent for the 43rd consecutive month, and nearly 370,000 more Americans simply gave up even looking for work.  At… Read more