Regarding domestic issues, President Clinton was focused on more than just health care. In 1996, Clinton passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, which completely overhauled the way Americans received welfare (financial aid for the poor). Designed by the Republican Congress that took over in 1994, the bill created stricter requirements for receiving aid as well as limits on how long the financial assistance would last. For example, welfare recipients would have to apply for jobs in order to receive their benefits, and they couldn't receive aid for more than five years.

President Clinton signed the bill on August 22, 1996.

Bill Clinton's welfare reform bill is still controversial today. Supporters say that it gave impoverished Americans more incentive to work, and the unemployment rate did fall consistently after it was passed. On the other hand, critics point out that the bill didn't solve the problem behind poverty, which some consider to be low wages, and that its passage may have been racially motivated to some extent. (The common stereotype at the time was that black Americans were poor welfare recipients who were unwilling to work, even though two thirds of welfare recipients were white in 1996.)

Use the following activity to review President Clinton's healthcare and welfare legislation. Drag the correct word into each blank space: