With each new session of Congress comes a vow to reform welfare. Usually, that promise is overshadowed by bigger issues such as military cutbacks and tax reform.

According to the GOP, this year will be different -- there will be welfare reform. The party set itself a time limit of 100 days to enact its strategy -- a strategy that changes every day.

Welfare reform is needed, but at a constant rate. It cannot be cut overnight so that the GOP can balance the national budget.

The welfare system must be changed to focus on education and job training, not just food stamps. The purpose of welfare should be to guide people toward self-sufficiency, not toward a welfare lifestyle. If people do not have the skills to get a job, they will be dependent on welfare for life.

Minimum wage also needs to be increased. Some people make more money from welfare than from a minimum-wage job. If people cannot earn enough money to support themselves and their families, they will rely on welfare to support them.

Both Democrats and Republicans agree on some reform issues, such as making fathers more financially accountable, limiting time eligibility for welfare benefits and reducing out-of-wedlock pregnancies.

The balanced-budget amendment forces the government to rethink the current welfare system. But, instead of reforming in the literal sense, it wants to find ways to cut money, not improve the system.

The GOP is confused and in need of unity. GOP leaders favor letting state governors lead welfare reform because the Republican Party needs the support of governors for its balanced-budget amendment.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich wants states to have almost total freedom in reform, but his stance on illegal immigrants fluctuates. Other Republicans such as Rep. E. Clay Shaw, Jr., a chairman of a Ways and Means subcommittee, stand behind federal requirements. Shaw and Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer are fighting to deny welfare to legal immigrants.

The government must reform, not abandon, welfare. It cannot reduce money spent on welfare and expect that to work. The problems -- lack of jobs and education -- will still exist, but there would just be less money to give to the people.

The people do not need the checks. They need the education and job training that should be supplied to them so they can get back on their feet and become less dependent on the government.