Chuck Colson Headlines C.S. Lewis Institute Banquet Former Nixon Aide and Prison Fellowship Ministries founder Chuck Colson will be the featured speaker of the C.S. Lewis Institute’s 2nd Annual Fundraising Banquet at the Fairview Park Marriott in Fairfax, Va., on Tuesday evening, June 17, 2003 from 6:30-9:00p.m. Mr. Colson will address the topic: "Whatever Became of Truth?" The C.S. Lewis Institute is named after the Christian scholar of English literature—a convert from atheism, ardent promoter of Christian morality, and advocate of the essential truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For more information on the C.S. Lewis Institute, their programs, fellowships and forthcoming events, visit their web site: www.cslewisinstitute.org. CATO Study Finds Mixed Results In Welfare Reform As the 1996 welfare reform awaits congressional reauthorization, now before the Senate Finance Committee, a new study by the CATO Institute finds that the major reform measure—the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act—has a mixed record of success. Michael Tanner, author of Welfare Reform: Less Than Meets the Eye (Policy Analysis No. 473), details the successes and failures of welfare reform since its overhaul in 1996 and explains why the reform measure has been neither an abysmal failure nor flawless triumph. Tanner, author of the forthcoming book, The Poverty of Welfare, describes the overall success of welfare reform as "trivial." The CATO scholar advocates eliminating the program instead of tinkering with negligible reforms. "When it comes to welfare, we should end it, not mend it," Tanner proclaims. "Most of those who have left the rolls and found work still remain deeply entangled in the public safety net," writes Tanner. "Few former recipients are earning enough to support their families on wages alone. In fact, two-thirds of former welfare families continue to turn to government for assistance in meeting their health care, food, childcare, transportation, and housing needs." The reforms have done little to reduce the number of out-of-wedlock births—an original goal of the program. One boon from the 1996 reform measure has been a "substantial reduction in welfare rolls, largely by speeding the exit of those individuals who were most likely to [eventually leave welfare] even in the absence of reform," writes Tanner. Despite this drop, the initial reform measure provided a block grant to states under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) provision. One stipulation in receiving this federal aid is that states were required to continue spending at least 75% of what they had previously spent on welfare recipients—a provision known as "maintenance of effort." Since implementing the 1996 welfare reform, some conservatives have viewed claims of so-called fiscal "savings" with a degree of skepticism. (The 1996 law froze spending at $16.5 billion through 2002.) Even though there are fewer welfare recipients than 6 years ago, per recipient spending has actually increased from about $7,000 to more than $17,000. Other cost factors include: welfare-to-work programs, public housing, child and healthcare expenses, and food stamps. The biggest shortcomings of the reform for welfare recipients are: lack of enforcement of time limits and work requirements, failure to reduce out-of-wedlock births, and most importantly, the ineffectiveness to enable "former recipients to become independent and self-sufficient." For more information on the CATO welfare reform study, visit: www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-473es.html or call (202) 842-0200. Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute Holds Seminar The annual Conservative Leadership Seminar sponsored by the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute will be held June 2, from 12:30 to 4:00 p.m. in room 2168 of the Rayburn House Office Building. This free seminar is open to students and interns in the Washington, D.C., metro area. Invited speakers included Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R.-Colo.), Kellyanne Conway, Washington Times editor Tony Blankley, Best Friends Foundation President Elayne Bennett and Bay Buchanan. If you are an intern or student interested in attending or from an organization interested in sending interns to the 2003 seminar, contact Lisa De Pasquale toll free at (888) 891-4288 or www.cblpolicyinstitute.org/conserva.htm. DeLay Speech Highlights Annual CEI Program House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R.-Tex.) addressed the issue of "regulation without representation" at the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s 9th Annual Dinner on May 20, 2003 at the Capitol Hilton in Washington, D.C. In addition to the Keynote address by DeLay, Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist, received the Julian L. Simon Memorial Award. Fred Barnes, editor of the Weekly Standard and co-host of the Fox News Channel program "The Beltway Boys," emceed the event.
