He knew that he was going to get beat up on his 1992 "end welfare as we know it" pledge if he kept vetoing the legislation, so he signed it. I do give him credit for signing it, along with a few other good things like NAFTA. Still, he didn't have a lot to do with writing the legislation.

From this source:

August 8. Majority Leader Bob Dole halts Senate consideration of welfare reform legislation, S. 1120, the Work Opportunity Act of 1995, after two days of debate.

August 11. Dole announces 26 modifications to the Work Opportunity Act.

September 6. The Senate resumes debate of legislation, now called H.R. 4, the Welfare Reform Act.

September 7. The Senate votes 54-45 to defeat the Democrats’ welfare reform plan. The bill would have preserved the entitlement to welfare while increasing the number of recipients enrolled in education, training, and work.

September 19. Following a week of debate, the Senate votes 87-12 to pass the Welfare Reform Act. Senators approve over 40 amendments to the bill, including a compromise leadership amendment, before final passage. The estimated savings is $67 billion over seven years.

October 24. Over 40 House and Senate welfare reform conferees convene to begin working out the differences between the House and Senate bills.

November 8. An analysis of the Senate welfare reform bill by the Office of Management and Budget finds that proposed policy changes would result in one million more children living in poverty.

November 14. Welfare reform conferees release a preliminary outline of a compromise bill that will be included in budget reconciliation. President Clinton vows to veto the measure.

December 7. The Clinton Administration releases a budget plan proposing $46 billion in savings over seven years for welfare reform.

The president vetoes the budget reconciliation bill, which contains welfare reform provisions.

December 21. The House votes 245-178 to pass the welfare reform conference report.

December 22. The Senate votes 52-47 to pass the conference report. The estimated savings is $58 billion over seven years.

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1996
January 9. President Clinton vetoes H.R. 4, the welfare reform conference committee bill. He says that an acceptable welfare reform bill must include more funding for child care, health coverage for low-income families, requirements for state funding, and additional funding during times of economic downturn or population growth.

February 6. The National Governors’ Association unanimously approves bipartisan agreements on welfare and Medicaid reform at their winter meeting in Washington, D.C. Both House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) pledge that both houses of Congress will give the governors’ policy statements serious consideration.

February 20. The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources holds hearings on the NGA policy statement for welfare reform.

February 22. The Senate Finance Committee holds hearings on the NGA policy statement.

February 28. HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, announces that the president cannot support the NGA welfare proposal "in its current form." She says that the proposal needs to be modified to provide vouchers for children of parents terminated from assistance, to retain the entitlement status of child welfare services and food stamps, and to include fundamental revision of the immigration section.

March 5. President Clinton notes in a speech before the National Association of Counties that his administration has approved waivers for 53 different welfare reform projects in 37 states, covering nearly 75 percent of all welfare recipients.

April 26. The White House proposes a new welfare reform bill with estimated savings of $38 billion over seven years. HHS Assistant Secretary Mary Jo Bane tells Congress the bill "promotes work, encourages parental responsibility, and provides a safety net for children."

May 4. President Clinton announces executive actions urging states to tighten eligibility for teen mothers on welfare.

May 18. President Clinton announces his support for a Wisconsin proposal for welfare reform, Wisconsin Works, (or W-2) that would end the guarantee of welfare benefits and would require work.

May 22. Congressional Republicans introduce revised welfare reform bills in both the House and Senate that are modeled, in part, on the NGA policy statements. The legislation retains federal control of child protection and adoption programs and allows legal immigrants who are who are not yet citizens to be eligible for cash welfare. Republicans say they will attach to the welfare bill a plan to give states control of Medicaid.

June 6. The House votes 289-136 to approve H.R. 3562, the Wisconsin Only bill, which would authorize the state of Wisconsin to implement its statewide welfare reform demonstration project, Wisconsin Works.

June 18. President Clinton announces actions to strengthen child support enforcement through implementation of a new federal system to track delinquent parents across state lines. The administration hopes to increase collections by an additional $6.4 billion and reduce federal welfare payments by $1.1 billion over 10 years.

June 26. Senate Finance Committee approves S. 1795, the Personal Repsonsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996, the Senate Republican leadership’s welfare and Medicaid reform legislation.

July 11. House and Senate Republican leadership announce their decision to split the welfare and Medicaid reform bills contained in H.R. 3507 and S. 1795. President Clinton had threatened to veto the reform bill, objecting to the Medicaid provisions.

July 18. The House of Representatives passes, by a vote of 256 to 170, its budget reconciliation package, H.R. 3734, which contains a modified version of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996, H.R. 3507.

July 23. The Senate passes its welfare reform bill by a vote of 74 to 24.

July 25. House and Senate conferees begin meeting to work out the differences between their respective welfare reform measures.

July 30. House-Senate conferees complete work on H.R. 3734 and send bill to House for final passage.

July 31. President Clinton announces he will sign H.R. 3734. House of Representatives passes bill by a vote of 328 to 101.

August 1. Senates passes H.R. 3734 by vote of 78 to 21.

August 22. President Clinton signs the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

It's interesting to note that HR 3734 passed both the House and Senate by veto-proof majorities.