Stop the Bait and Switch Hypocrisy!

by Robert Filner

                  STOP THE BAIT AND SWITCH HYPOCRISY!

                                 ______


                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 16, 1995
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I rise today to voice my
outrage about the hypocrisy that now governs this rescissions process.
  Yesterday I stood on the floor and tried to offer what I believe was
a reasonable alternative to the horrendous choices we were being asked
to make.
  I spoke out against the new game being employed in Washington--bait
and switch.
  The rules are simple: propose massive and irresponsible budget cuts
one day. Then, turn around when cameras and reporters are watching, and
claim you are fighting to restore the very cuts that grabbed the
headlines just days before.
  Games are fine, Mr. Speaker, but not here. Not when we are looking at
billion-dollar cuts that will hurt children and older Americans, our
veterans and those in this country who can't afford a powerful
lobbyist.
  I want to use one example of how playing these kinds of games will
hurt the good people of San Diego. People are waiting to hear what we
will do with funding for summer jobs for youth.
  San Diego County has enjoyed a great deal of success for the past 13
years with the Hire-A-Youth Program. Hire-A-Youth gives more than 6,000
young people their first shot at real employment.
  Let us be very clear about this. The kids who get these jobs are from
families at or below the poverty level. More than half of them come
from families on welfare.
  They need these summer jobs to survive. They are not in this for
running-around money. These jobs help them to help put food on their
families' tables and clothes on their backs. They help pay the rent.
  Hire-A-Youth has been doing exactly what many of my colleagues in
this Congress have said we want to do about welfare: break the cycle of
dependency by putting people to work.
  We are providing these children an opportunity to learn the value of
the work ethic.
  What kind of message are we sending to America's youth by cutting the
one resource they have to become productive, contributing members of
our community?
  I have heard from parents, teachers, business people, community
leaders--you name it--imploring us to save summer jobs for kids. But
the most poignant pleas are coming from the kids themselves.
  Angela writes that sometimes students have the tendency to feel as if
no one cares, but this program has given her the motivation to get a
job.
  Omar says that no one else would hire a 14-year-old, and through this
program he learned valuable social and money management skills.
  Isn't that what we want? Let's keep what works for our kids. Stop the
bait and switch games. We must protect what works for our communities.