WELFARE REFORM . . . DON'T BE CRUEL

President Clinton, who revived his plans for welfare reform with a weekend summit of federal and state leaders, today told the National Governors' Association that he wants to gives states more flexibility in fashioning plans to get welfare recipients off the dole. But Clinton, whose Administration has already granted several states carte blanche to do just that, cautioned that he would fight GOP-led attempts to gut welfare if they endanger benefits to children. "We must pass welfare reform this year, but it ought to be the right kind with the right results," Clinton said. In a vote later in the day, the 30 Republican governors in the NGA failed to enlist enough Democratic backers to reach the 3/4 requirement needed for NGA endorsement of their welfare reform proposal.