August 22 will mark the 10th anniversary of welfare reform. (Above Robert Rector testifies before Congress on welfare reform.) That 1996 legislation has achieved remarkable success in reducing child poverty and increasing employment. Moreover, the reforms have helped those dependent on government welfare become self-sufficient. The 1996 reforms signaled a significant shift in U.S. social policy, which no longer would reward dependency. Today, additional steps must be taken to secure, and further, the progress.

On August 17, The Heritage Foundation is hosting an event on 10 years of welfare reform, Welfare Reform at 10: Marking the Milestone.

Read The Impact of Welfare Reform by Robert Rector

Also Marriage and the Welfare of America: the Tenth Anniversary of Welfare Reform by Mike Leavitt

Also Welfare Reform Turns Ten: Evidence Shows Reduced Dependence, Poverty by Christine Kim and Robert Rector

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Oil and gasoline prices remain high, and two wars raging in the Middle East could drive prices up further still. Yet Congress has failed to remove restrictions on oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). ANWR is America’s single largest untapped source of oil. A new bill, the American-Made Energy Freedom Act (H.R. 5890), would open it to energy production. Other provisions in the bill are problematic, particularly those that would use the billions in ANWR leasing and royalty revenues to fund alternative energy projects.