Neal Opening Statement at Hearing on TANF

(As prepared for delivery)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to our witnesses for being here today.

When they are able to receive it, TANF can play an important role in making ends meet each month for families with children across the country. Bridging the gap on affording basic necessities while also helping parents and other caregivers find meaningful work and build a better life. Unfortunately, less than one in four poor families gets assistance from TANF nationally, and in many states the numbers are even smaller.

This Congress is ending as it began-putting the will of the wealthy and well-connected over the most vulnerable Americans. The only TANF legislation we considered in Committee was H.R. 6918, which allowed states to divert funds intended for needy families to fund anti-abortion centers. We are just days out from not only a government shutdown but also the expiration of the TANF program, and the Committee is lending our platform to a subject involved the most dramatic misuse of TANF funds in recent memory.

Now today, there will be a lot of faux outrage over a program that has been repeatedly exploited, with no accountability for how it got that way. Republican authors of the original TANF law deliberately prevented real federal oversight of TANF, at the request of Republican House members and governors.

Did you know that in Mississippi 396,000 families and about 632,000 children accessed Democrats' expanded Child Tax Credit in 2021 whereas at the same time, only about 2,000 families accessed TANF?

It's stunning, and it's an utter failure to help the poorest among us.

Democrats stand ready to work with Republicans to provide the oversight authority and return the misspent funds to the poor families that need financial support. In fact, Ranking Member Davis, a lifelong champion of our nation's most vulnerable workers and families, and another champion, Congresswoman Chu, are leading legislation to replace a Republican provision in the original law that allowed the malfeasance in Mississippi to happen with penalties and requiring states to recover misspent funds and direct them to their intended audience-poor children. Another champion on the Committee, Congresswoman Moore, who through her lived experience knows better than anyone here about holding those in power accountable for helping struggling families.

We have clear, proven pathways to help struggling families-restoring the expanded child tax credit, guaranteeing child care, and unlocking access to paid family and medical leave would be a good start.

Today, the majority is promoting a false dichotomy between celebrity and responsibility.

Stealing from children is wrong, no matter how you spin it or who you are.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

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