The state's [South Carolina] department of social services is no longer an entitlement agency. Now it's an employment office. We are training welfare clients for work, teaching them how to fill out a job application, and working with them on getting along with co-workers and the boss. We are providing temporary assistance with child care and transportation. And above all, we expect that everyone who walks through has the capacity to achieve. [South Carolina Governor, David M. Beasley]

It required two years of legislative heavy lifting to get welfare reform enacted in the 104th Congress. Democrats in the Senate fought to preserve the old welfare system and President Clinton vetoed Republican welfare reform twice.

Given the choice between voting for real welfare reform or voting simply to pile billions of more dollars on top of a failed, 62-year old system that excelled only at encouraging lifelong dependency, Democrats in the Senate chose the latter.