[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 59 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 59

 Expressing the sense of the Congress that joint custody laws for fit 
   parents should be passed by each State, so that more children are 
   raised with the benefits of having a father and a mother in their 
                                 lives.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 18, 2007

  Mr. Akaka submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Congress that joint custody laws for fit 
   parents should be passed by each State, so that more children are 
   raised with the benefits of having a father and a mother in their 
                                 lives.

Whereas, in approximately 84 percent of the cases where a parent is absent, that 
        parent is the father;
Whereas, if current trends continue, half of all children born today will live 
        apart from one of their parents, usually their father, at some point 
        before they turn 18 years old;
Whereas when families (whether intact or with a parent absent) are living in 
        poverty, a significant factor is often the father's lack of job skills;
Whereas committed and responsible fathering during infancy and early childhood 
        contributes to the development of emotional security, curiosity, and 
        math and verbal skills;
Whereas an estimated 19,400,000 children (27 percent) live apart from their 
        biological fathers;
Whereas 40 percent of the children under age 18 not living with their biological 
        fathers had not seen their fathers even once in the past 12 months, 
        according to national survey data;
Whereas single parents are to be commended for the tremendous job that they do 
        with their children;
Whereas the United States needs to encourage responsible parenting by both 
        fathers and mothers, whenever possible;
Whereas the United States needs to encourage both parents, as well as extended 
        families, to be actively involved in children's lives;
Whereas a way to encourage active involvement is to encourage joint custody and 
        shared parenting;
Whereas the American Bar Association found in 1997 that 19 States plus the 
        District of Columbia had some form of presumption for joint custody, 
        either legal, physical, or both, and by 2006, 13 additional States had 
        added some form of presumption, bringing the current total to 32 States 
        plus the District of Columbia;
Whereas data from the Census Bureau shows a correlation between joint custody 
        and shared parenting and a higher rate of payment of child support;
Whereas social science literature shows that a higher proportion of children 
        from intact families with 2 parents in the home are well adjusted, and 
        research also shows that for children of divorced, separated, and never 
        married parents, joint custody is strongly associated with positive 
        outcomes for children on important measures of adjustment and well 
        being; and
Whereas research by the Department of Health and Human Services shows that the 
        States with the highest amount of joint custody subsequently had the 
        lowest divorce rate: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that joint custody laws for fit 
parents should be passed by each State, so that more children are 
raised with the benefits of having a father and a mother in their 
lives.
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