Welfare Bill Resignations

THE DAILY FED

Welfare Bill Resignations

Two more top Clinton Administration welfare officials have resigned in protest over the President's signing of the welfare reform bill last month. They are Peter Edelman, HHS Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, and Mary Jo Bane, HHS Assistant Secretary for Administration for Children and Families.

Edelman and his wife, Marian Wright Edelman, head of the Children's Defense Fund, are longtime friends of the Clintons. Bane was a leading researcher in the field of welfare policy before joining the Administration.

"I have devoted the last 30-plus years to doing whatever I could to help reduce poverty in America," Edelman wrote in his letter of resignation. "I believe the recently enacted welfare bill goes in the opposite direction." Bane said her "deep concerns" about the bill "have led me to conclude that I cannot continue to serve."

Previously, Wendell Primus, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy, had resigned over the issue.