 | | Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash |
Bush, who campaigned as a less-government-is-good-government Republican, is so convinced of this that he is pressing Congress to add money to promote marriage in a bill that reauthorizes the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. The legislation, already approved by the House, is expected to be voted on by the Senate before the current law expires at the end of this month. Bush wants to spend 0 million a year to hawk the value of marriage to welfare mothers. Counseling couples on the virtues of marriage isn't a bad idea -- as long as their participation isn't coerced in any way. But that's just what opponents of the president's ''marriage incentives'' program believe will happen if it becomes law. They fear that other states will follow West Virginia's lead and offer to put more money in a mother's welfare check if she marries the father of her dependent children. They're expected to argue this point today during a Capitol Hill news conference. The event was called to drum up support for a Senate amendment that would redirect Bush's marriage-incentives money to other programs that ''strengthen protections for the most disadvantaged families,'' such as teen parents and those who care for disabled children. ''The amendment targets scarce federal resources to where they will work best,'' said its author, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. Connections between abuse, welfare There's a real danger in offering poor women a financial incentive to marry. Many of them have gone on welfare to escape a violent relationship, according to a report being released today by the National Organization for Women Legal Defense and Education Fund. It concludes that abuse victims are less likely to find and keep a job or pursue the education they need to get off welfare. Faced with the choice of leaving an abusive, unloving partner or getting additional public assistance to care for their children in return for marrying their tormentor, some women might opt to take the money. That's an enticement the federal government shouldn't allow states to dangle before these women. ''Simply providing financial incentives for marriage is not what the Bush marriage-incentive program is about,'' said Wade Horn, the assistant Health and Human Services secretary who oversees welfare programs. Instead, he said, Bush's emphasis is on counseling, educational and mentoring programs that will help married couples stay together. That's a departure from what Horn advocated in a 2001 Brookings Institution article written while he still was president of the National Fatherhood Initiative. Then, he said that while reauthorizing the welfare-reform act, Congress ''could require states to follow West Virginia's lead and provide a cash bonus to single mothers on welfare who marry the child's biological father.'' A better idea would be for Congress to expressly prohibit states from doing that. (Agencies) | 作為一名共和黨人，布什在競選總統的時候就強調"政府管的少就是管的好"。為了貫徹這一點，他積極要求國會重新批準1996年出臺的《福利改革法案》，并增加撥款來鼓勵婚姻。而這項立法已經得到了眾議院的批準，將在本月底現行法令有效期滿之前由參議院投票決定。 布什打算每年撥款3億美金來幫助母親們感受到婚姻的價值，向她們提供更多的福利。向夫婦們提供婚姻美德方面的咨詢也許不失為一個好主意--如果這些夫婦自愿參加的話。 但一些反對者卻認為，一旦總統的"婚姻激勵"政策升級為法律后，他們所擔心的情況將會出現：所有的的州都會象西弗吉尼亞州那樣，只要一名懷孕女子和自己孩子的父親結婚，政府就得為她的福利體檢花掉更多的錢。 他們希望在9月18日的國會山記者會上討論這一點。該次討論被看作是參議員森· 帕蒂·D·瓦什想要為自己提出的修正法案尋求支持的舉措。該修正法案旨在建議布什總統將用于"婚姻激勵"政策的錢轉而用于"對那些極端弱勢家庭提供幫助"，比如那些過早"為人父母"的青少年，或是那些照顧殘疾兒童的人們等。 帕蒂說，"修正法案是要將不多的聯邦資源用在刀刃上，用在最能發揮作用的地方。"  福利：福兮禍兮？
向貧窮婦女提供福利金來鼓勵她們結婚的確存在著一定的風險。美國國家婦女法律保護及教育基金組織9月18日公布的一份報告顯示，許多婦女為了逃避一段可能為自己帶來暴力虐待的關系而開始領取救濟金。該報告的結論是，那些被虐待的女性受害者往往不愿意接受教育或尋找工作，她們寧愿靠救濟金度日。 然而一旦布什的提議成為法律，這些婦女又會動搖起來。是逃離虐待自己，根本已經無愛可言的丈夫，獨自一人面對今后的生活，還是為了得到可以用來撫養孩子的額外公眾補助而回到給自己帶來夢魘的惡魔身邊？面臨這樣的選擇，很多婦女都會傾向于后者。而實際上，州政府根本就不應該把這樣的誘惑擺在這些婦女眼前。 負責監察該項計劃的美國健康和公眾服務部主管福利計劃的秘書長助理韋德·霍恩說："布什總統的初衷絕非單純地用福利金來鼓勵婦女結婚。"他認為恰恰相反，總統主要是想通過咨詢、教育和顧問指導等途徑來鼓勵已婚的夫婦們營建一個幸福的婚姻。 然而，霍恩這樣說很明顯是自相矛盾的。當他還是國家父親援助行動協會主席的時候，他在2001年布魯金斯研究所的一篇文章中提到，重新通過《福利改革法案》，國會就"能夠要求各州象西弗吉尼亞州一樣，為所有單身的母親提供額外的福利金，來鼓勵她們嫁給自己孩子的父親。" 如果國會夠明智的話，就應該果斷地阻止這種情況的發生。 (中國日報網站譯) |
Updated: 2002-09-23 01:00
