The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops initially opposed the 1996 law, in large part because it blocked legal immigrants from receiving welfare assistance. After the program was re-authorized in Congress in 2010, the conference released a statement on welfare reform expressing their support of and criticisms of certain aspects of the policy.
One of its successes in the last 20 years was that “in reality and in the public mind, it connected assistance to work, which is a good thing,” John Carr said. “Work is an expression of our dignity.”
However, he added, welfare reform and its work requirements “works a lot better in a booming economy than in a recession,” when good jobs are more scarce and harder to find.
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