Presidents are usually effusive, grandiose, and triumphant when they sign major legislation that will form a huge part of their legacy. In 1996, Bill Clinton’s announcement that he’d sign a bill ending "welfare as we know it" was not that.

It was defensive and at times openly apologetic for what was about to happen.

"Some parts of this bill still go too far," he conceded. "This bill still cuts deeper than it should in nutritional assistance, mostly for working families with children."

He probably didn’t know then how true those words would one day turn out to be. Clinton, and now his wife, presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, has run hot and cold over the years on the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA) — what is now colloquially referred to as "welfare reform."

Ten years after signing the bill, Bill took an enthusiastic victory lap in the pages of the New York Times. "Welfare reform has proved a great success," he declared. And at first, it seemed like he was right. Evidence seemed to indicate that it really did get more employment increased, and worst-case scenarios liberal critics predicted didn’t come to pass.

But another 10 years later, the mood changed again. Days before the New York Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton, who once urged her husband to sign the bill, told WNYC that "we have to take a hard look at it again." New research had showed that in fact welfare reform fell short in the depths of the Great Recession — substantially increasing deep poverty and leaving families who can’t find work without any cash safety net.

The Clintons’ statements have mirrored the overall reputation of the bill over time, especially among Democrats. In 1996 the party was all but unanimous about the fact that something had to change with welfare. There was heated debate over whether the changes were acceptable, including within the Clinton administration itself, but ultimately most congressional Democrats voted for the law on the same mixed grounds that Clinton signed it: It wasn’t perfect, but it was a necessary step toward reform.

Now it is a cross Hillary had to bear during her presidential run, and a topic on which Bernie Sanders and his left-wing intellectual supporters could, and did, attack her mercilessly.

The idea behind welfare reform back in the ‘90s was that something was deeply broken about the system and needed to change. That was correct. But something else is deeply broken now, and it too needs to change.
(source)

The programs history is interesting to note, in that its phase out rules deliberately harmed people who were able to find work and the Clinton and co chastised those same people for not working and thus gutted the program.