Question 4 for Sen. Tim Scott

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During his time in Manning recently, Sen. Tim Scott was asked, “What needs to be done to fix the welfare system?” "Over the last eight years, we've had an increase of 12 million people who are living in poverty and are on welfare programs. We've seen a 40-percent increase in people who are eligible for food stamps. There are two things we need to address: No. 1 is how to restore dignity in all work. No. 2 is we've got to fix the programs to encourage people to go to work. Under President (Bill) Clinton's administration, work requirements were put into the welfare program; in 2012 the work requirements were taken away, and the number of people who signed up for welfare went up. If we went back to work requirements, I think numbers will go back down and people's quality of life will improve. We have to make sure that the benefits when you go back to work don't drop off immediately but that they curve off. So you would work your way out of needing those benefits. There are 5.8 million open jobs across the nation, and 70 percent of those jobs do not require a four-year degree. We need to give better training and more incentives for people to go back to work.”