As prepared for delivery.
“My name is Darin LaHood and I represent Illinois’ 16th District, covering much of the central and northwestern parts of the state.
“Republicans secured a major victory by strengthening work requirements in the direct cash assistance portion of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
“Those changes followed our hearing in March highlighting loopholes in current law that allowed states to game the work participation rate.
“This hearing will take the next step by focusing on the other side of TANF: non-assistance spending.
“Non-assistance constitutes the majority of the TANF block grant– nearly 78 percent of combined federal and state spending. This is spending that is not for basic assistance or direct checks to welfare recipients.
“Concerns have emerged that the non-assistance part of TANF lacks guardrails and is not focused on helping people move from welfare to work.
“National headlines, fueled by a massive embezzlement scandal in Mississippi, have drawn increased scrutiny about TANF – leaving people to ask: Where is all the welfare money going?
“In June, Republican Members of the Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to HHS asking the agency about their response to Mississippi and their efforts to safeguard federal funds in other states.
“In response, HHS outlined a number of statutory limitations that constrain their ability to conduct oversight and indicated a willingness to work with the...
President Donald Trump made numerous false claims in his rambling Wednesday speech at the Republican midterm convention. Trump repeated long-debunked lies about elections and immigration. He deliv...