Tougher welfare law is right thing to do

When the bill that became the welfare-to-work act of 1996 was being debated, there were many in Congress who had serious doubts that anything meaningful could ever be done about the welfare class in this country. And certainly there were plenty of naysayers who were sure the welfare rolls would only be reduced in ways that would spell economic disaster for the nation's neediest individuals.

In fact, the 5.1 million families on welfare have dropped to 2.1 million. And about 30 percent of current welfare recipients are working.

Last week, President Bush told an unreceptive audience in a predominately black neighborhood in Washington, D.C., that the 1996 welfare law, which is up for renewal this year, must be made tougher. Despite the stony reception, the president is right. Call it tough love, but moving welfare recipients out of a cycle of handouts and into an environment of jobs and family responsibility will produce even more benefits for thousands of Americans.

It will take the same congressional boldness that gave us welfare-to-work to keep the momentum moving in the right direction.