Members of the House Ways and Means Committee voted in January 2007 to name Congressman Weller the Ranking Republican Member of the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support.  The subcommittee oversees $82.3 billion dollars in federal programs.

With his new assignment, Rep. Weller is now the Republican spokesman on a number of social service programs, including welfare, child care, child support, and unemployment compensation.  He aims to build on the remarkable progress Congress has already made in the area of welfare, with reform passed in the mid-1990s, of which he was a strong supporter.

In the years since we passed welfare reforms in Congress, the welfare roles in Illinois declined by 85 percent.  Congressman Weller believes in continuing that success by offering people a hand up, not a hand out, and providing the temporary resources they need to become active, working members of society, and the important health care and protective services they need to lead productive lives.

Programs under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support include:

     -          Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which provides benefits for needy families with children to find employment and independence from welfare.  Illinois receives more than $1 billion in TANF funds.

 
-          Child Care and Development Block Grants, which provide child care for low-income working families.

 
-          Promoting Safe and Stable Families, which provides grants to states for services to protect abused or neglected families.

 
-          Child Support Enforcement, which provides assistance in locating non-custodial parents, establishing paternity and support orders, and collecting payments.

 
-          Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, and Independent Living, which provides maintenance payments and training to support abused and neglected children in foster care or adoptive homes.

 
-          Unemployment Compensation.

 
-          Supplemental Security Income, which provides cash benefits for low-income elderly, blind, or disabled individuals.

 
-          Social Services Block Grants, which provide funding for numerous state programs, including day care, protective services, services for the disabled, substance abuse programs, and housing.

Specifically, Congressman Weller is an advocate for better reimbursements for providers of foster care, and work to reduce “marriage penalties” in the current welfare system.    

“Research has shown that the most effective way to lift children out of poverty is when they have the opportunity to live in a two-parent household,” Weller said.  “I intend to work to identify marriage penalties in programs under our jurisdiction.”

“The breakup of families often creates or exacerbates the need for welfare programs,” Weller continued.  “I support the Healthy Marriage Initiative, a program dedicated to teaching people how to have a healthy marriage, so that they may not need government help. 

“I look forward to working with local social service providers, the Administration, state officials, as well as my colleagues in the Illinois Delegation to make sure programs work successfully,” Weller concluded.  “I look forward to building upon our successes, and continuing to improve the quality of life for needy people back home.”