First Lady May Tackle Welfare If Clinton Re-Elected -- Sept. 20, 1996
Clinton Wraps Up Northwest Bus Tour -- Sept. 20, 1996
A 'Formal' Welfare Role For Hillary?
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Nov. 25) -- Just what is a "formal role" exactly?
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton told TIME magazine in an interview this week that she wants such a role in the welfare debate. "I want to travel around and talk to people about what is happening on the ground," she said in TIME's Dec. 2 issue. "I intend to speak out about it and write about it." (Transcript of TIME Interview)
But White House press secretary Mike McCurry said he's not aware of any movement in that direction. He said President Bill Clinton "does expect her and other experts on child welfare to help him and help the administration successfully implement welfare reform," McCurry told CNN. "She has a formal role: she is the first lady of the United States of America."
President Clinton seemed to have surprised his wife and his staff in September on ABC's "20/20" when he said he'd like his wife to take an active role in improving the welfare law that he signed earlier this year. "That's the first I've heard of it," Mrs. Clinton said. "Sounds like an exciting..."
She was interrupted by the president, apparently suddenly mindful of the beating the first lady took in 1993 over health care reform. "It's not a formal role; it's not a formal role," he said. No more mention was made of the idea during the campaign.
"There's a lot of good information we have now because of the [welfare] waivers that have been granted [to the states] in the last several years," Mrs. Clinton told TIME this week. "There has to be a transfer of knowledge across state boundaries. There are going to be some really steep learning curves."
GOP Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, for one, said the first lady should butt out. "We've finally got the chance to move people off welfare, and we really don't need the tender loving care of Hillary Clinton to mess it up," Thompson told a Republican governors' meeting in Grand Rapids, Mich.