Ladies and gentlemen:
We have just completed one of the most constructive meetings on the problem of welfare reform that I have attended since this subject has been before the Administration.
The State of California has 10 percent of the Nation's population and 16 percent of the Nation's welfare recipients. It is particularly noteworthy to point out that the State of California has taken the initiative in terms of welfare reform, an initiative which has the same goal as the welfare reform that we have undertaken at the national level, and that is to, give more assistance to those who cannot help themselves, those truly in need, but to stop helping those who can help themselves and refuse to do so.
We have had a very long meeting with the Secretary of HEW, the Governor, and Mr. Cap Weinberger of the Bureau of the Budget. We have found many areas of agreement and particularly have discovered that the California plan in major details can be implemented without being in violation or contrary to the Federal regulations or Federal law.
We welcome this initiative because this kind of initiative can tell us from the State level--in this largest State, with the largest proportion of welfare recipients--it can tell us something that we might apply also at the national level in the regulations that we eventually may issue.
As far as the details are concerned, the Governor will speak to that point, and Secretary Richardson is here, too, to answer your questions.
But I can simply conclude by saying that you could perhaps describe this as a summit conference on welfare reform, a conference which both the Governor and I have asked for because we felt it was important to see how the Nation's first State and the Federal Government could work together toward our common goal.
I would say that the conference has been eminently successful. There are some areas still to be worked out, but generally, in the majority of the areas, we have found agreement and a way to work together toward a common goal.
Note: The President spoke at 1:12 p.m. at the Western White House in San Clemente, Calif.
On the same day, the White House released the transcript of a news briefing on welfare reform by Gov. Ronald Reagan of California, Elliot L. Richardson, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and Caspar W. Weinberger, Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget, following their meeting with the President.
Richard Nixon, Remarks Following a Meeting on Welfare Reform Proposals in San Clemente, California. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241193
