Jeb Bush to women on welfare in 1994: 'Get a husband'

Washington (CNN)Jeb Bush insisted during his unsuccessful first run for the Florida governor's office that an alternative to welfare for women is to "find a husband."

The Republican 2016 presidential contender's comments came in the heat of a 1994 campaign that has come back to haunt him -- particularly as he seeks to run an inclusive campaign aimed at broadening the GOP's appeal.

That year, Bush, with a more strident style and in a different era in the debate over welfare reform, saw a controversial remark he made in July seized on by reporters and by his opponent. Bush said that marriage is one of three options for women to get off welfare assistance.

"If people are mentally and physically able to work, they should be able to do so within a two-year period. They should be able to get their life together and find a husband, find a job, find other alternatives in terms of private charity or a combination of all three," Bush said....

In 1994, when Republican primary opponent Jim Smith hit Bush for those comments in a television commercial, Bush didn't back away in a September news conference.

"How you get on welfare is by not having a husband in the house -- let's be honest here," he said.

"Men are not on welfare, that's the point," Bush said. "That's the point -- men are not on AFDC."


http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/11/politics/jeb-bush-to-women-on-welfare-in-1994-get-a-husband/