| WASHINGTON
- July 2 - "George W. Bush spent the early part of this week on a 'family
values tour,' touting his backward-looking proposals to marry-off poor women and
pour federal money into religious programs," said National Organization for
Women (NOW) President Kim Gandy. "All this lip service to 'family values'
is little more than a transparent attempt to mold domestic policy to suit the
likes of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. These impoverished proposals skew public
policy to the detriment of poor women, poor families and poor children across
the country."
"Bush told supporters in Cleveland that 'we've got to teach people the
values of marriage and family,'" Gandy said. "The people of this country
expect more from their government than a married-or-invisible vision of women's
place in society."
"The purpose of welfare is to help the poorest people move out of poverty
and into self-sufficiency. To make 'finding a man' the Administration-approved
ticket out of poverty is not just an insulting throwback, it's terrible public
policy," Gandy said. "The $1 billion marriage promotion scheme touted
by the Administration, passed by the House and currently pending in the Senate's
welfare reform bill is thinly disguised social engineering."
"The Administration's my-way-or-the-highway approach to helping poor moms
and kids won't help those who need help the most. It doesn't take a rocket scientist
to see that the way to end the vicious cycle of poverty and punishment is to make
sure that education, child care, health care, transportation and decent housing
are available to all struggling families," Gandy said. "Instead, Bush's
welfare proposals siphon off funds to pay for the Dick Cheney Dating Game while
perversely mandating stiffer work requirements without the supports necessary
to hold down a good job."
"It's time to get serious about welfare," Gandy said. "Poor
women and their children need and deserve fair legislation that will yield results.
Until we guarantee education and essential work supports not a single dime should
be diverted from those critical needs."
###
|
