Pres. Nixon's State of the Union speeches: on Welfare & Poverty

Place floor under the income of every family with children

The present welfare system has become a monstrous, consuming outrage--an outrage against the community, against the taxpayer, and particularly against the children it is supposed to help. We may honestly disagree, as we do, on what to do about it. But we can all agree that we must meet the challenge, not by pouring more money into a bad program, but by abolishing the present welfare system and adopting a new one.

So let us place a floor under the income of every family with children in America-and without those demeaning, soul-stifling affronts to human dignity that so blight the lives of welfare children today. But let us also establish an effective work incentive and an effective work requirement. Let us provide the means by which more can help themselves. This shall be our goal.