LINDEN SOLES, CNN ANCHOR: Sixty years of government policy was changed with the stroke of a pen today as President Clinton signed a Republican-sponsored welfare reform bill that ends government- guaranteed cash assistance to the poor. Mr. Clinton said the measure was far from perfect, and he called on society to help the poor find both employment and self-respect.</s>WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every employer in this country that ever made a disparaging remark about the welfare system needs to think about whether he or she should now hire somebody from welfare and go to work. Go to the state and say: OK, you give me the check. I'll use it as an income supplement. I'll train these people. I'll help them to start their lives. And we'll go forward from here.</s>SOLES: The measure places a lifetime limit of five years of welfare per family. It requires recipients to find work after two consecutive years of welfare. And it transfers block grants and management of welfare programs to the states. Demonstrators marching in front of the White House today called the welfare reform measure an election year betrayal of the poor.</s>PATRICIA IRELAND, PRESIDENT, NOW: But let the signing of this welfare bill serve as a call to action for all of us, feminists, progressives, throughout the United States. While some of us may hold our noses and vote for President Clinton this fall, many of us will refuse to lift a finger or give a penny to his re-election effort.
CNN 20: Welfare Bill Signed, August 22, 1996