Angry Welfare-Rights Activists May Protest At Convention

Welfare-rights activists accused President Clinton of an election-year betrayal for signing a welfare bill Thursday that ends guaranteed cash payments to the poor and requires them to work for benefits.

Protesters outside the White House complained angrily that Clinton’s support of the Republican measure has more to do with winning re-election than reforming the nation’s system of aiding the needy.

“The signing itself, as well as the bill, is politically motivated,” said Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization for Women.

“This fall, we will be voting for the lesser of two evils,” she said. “Personally, I can’t find any enthusiasm for this president.”

The protest came as a subdued Clinton signed the legislation in a Rose Garden ceremony that many Democrats skipped. The president said he would make the best of “this historic chance to try to recreate the nation’s social bargain with the poor.”

Ralph Nader, who noted that Clinton promised during the 1992 campaign to be an advocate for children, termed the signing “a cruel decision based on the rawest kind of short-term political expediency.”

Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children’s Defense Fund and a longtime friend of Clinton, called the bill signing “a moment of shame.”

Protester Rhonda Lees said, ‘It’s very frustrating that a president who’s been so good on women’s issues and children’s issues in the past signs into law a bill that will push 1 million children into poverty.”

“I’m not saying I won’t vote for him, but I’m disappointed,” added Lees, who runs a nonpartisan Internet organizing project for feminist political candidates and women’s issues.

Clinton may be able to prevail with female voters even though some will oppose his signing of the welfare bill; he remains far in front of GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole in surveys of female voters.

There also was the possibility of protests in Chicago, where Democrats have been hoping for a convention free of controversy.

The Rev. Al Sharpton called Thursday for a national march on the convention next week to protest the bill-signing. He said busloads of protesters from around the country would arrive in Chicago next Wednesday, the day Clinton is set to arrive in the city.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson plans a strategy meeting this weekend to discuss political activities his Operation PUSH will pursue next week. Jackson is scheduled to speak to the convention Tuesday, although not during televised coverage, and is a strong critic of the welfare overhaul.

Jackson and Sharpton, who both support Clinton, contend the law could cause black voters to sit out the election.