FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-1025
March 12, 1998
No. HR-10
Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr., (R-FL), Chairman, Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold an oversight hearing on implementation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. The hearing will take place on Thursday, March 19, 1998, in room B-318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 11:00 a.m.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include representatives from the Administration, State welfare directors, local welfare programs, the Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and universities. Any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
The "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996" (P.L. 104-193), created the TANF block grant, a new cash welfare program.
This is the first hearing the Subcommittee will conduct this year to review the implementation and effects of welfare reform. Future hearings are expected to focus on impacts of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program on children and families, as well as implementation and impacts of the 1996 reforms of the Child Support Enforcement and Supplemental Security Income programs.
The Subcommittee is interested in specific examples of how reforms are now being implemented at the State and local level. The Subcommittee will also review the major research information that will become available over the next several years that Congress, the Administration, scholars, advocates, and interested citizens can use to examine the impacts of welfare reform.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Shaw stated: "Most of the provisions of the 1996 welfare reform law have now been implemented by every State. This is the first in a series of hearings and other activities that our Subcommittee will conduct over the next several years to carefully study the impacts of the welfare reform law."
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit at least six (6) single-space legal-size copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format only, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Thursday, April 2, 1998, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Human Resources office, room B-317 Rayburn House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space on legal-size paper and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are now requested to submit their statements on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.