Democratic Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore said Tuesday that the term “welfare” is a “pejorative” and shows that Republicans are focused on “demonizing” mothers.
Moore’s comments came during an organizational meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee, which handles taxes and government programs such as Social Security, Medicare, unemployment benefits and other forms of assistance. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Roger Marshall Reintroduces Legislation To Roll Back ATF’s New Pistol Brace Rule)
“It is a pejorative and one of our, as Americans, favorite presidents, Ronald Reagan, really used it exclusively to describe the ‘welfare queen’ that had numerous names, Social Security numbers, different husbands, different welfare checks,” Moore said 43 minutes into the committee’s organizational meeting. She also described the term “welfare queen” as a “dog whistle.”
Republican members of the committee, led by committee Chair Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, proposed renaming its Worker and Family Support Subcommittee to the Work and Welfare Subcommittee. The subcommittee handles entitlement programs and welfare assistance under the purview of the House Ways and Means Committee.
“And you know, Mr. Chairman, that the intent of this change, however many times it is changed, the intent is to cast aspersions on the people who are served by it, particularly women who have children,” Moore continued.
“I feel like I should just wear my ‘welfare queen’ tiara everyday to the committee to remind myself of what your intent is,” she said. “The whole focus of this subcommittee is going to be on demonizing, particularly, women who have children.”