DiIulio said the effort would build on existing law -- a portion of the 1996 welfare reform bill -- that allows religious organizations to participate in federal anti-poverty programs.
To find out, we had to go back to where this story begins, back to the spring of 1967, when fierce debate was under way in the Senate over funding for anti-poverty programs.
Yet Christie's willingness to distance himself from congressional Republicans gives him added credibility in selling himself as "a different kind of Republican, " and it is reminiscent of the strategy pursued by then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush, who was sharply critical of congressional Republicans for their willingness to cut anti-poverty programs.