[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 2 (Thursday, January 5, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E43]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   CREDIT BUREAU REPORTING OF COURT-ORDERED CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS

                                 ______


                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 4, 1995
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, as this historic 104th Congress convenes, I 
am reintroducing the Child Support Credit Bureau Reporting Act of 1995, 
to require all States to participate in a simplified, nationally 
uniform child-support credit-bureau reporting system.
  I first introduced this bill in 1994. It is aimed at combatting the 
woefully low rate of child support payments in the United States, 
without creating a new Federal Government program to do it. Credit 
bureaus and, through them, individual lenders will know on a monthly 
basis whether or not parents are fulfilling this most basic obligation. 
With negligible Federal costs, this bill will begin to get the private 
sector involved in addressing those adults who don't pay their court-
ordered child support.
  Children are created by two people, and both of them must accept 
personal and financial responsibility for raising their children. In 
broken, or never-formed families, financial responsibility is often 
defined by court-ordered child support payments. Unfortunately, too 
many noncustodial parents fail to comply with the court orders.
  A year ago, I received a letter from a constituent of mine in Warren, 
MI. This mother of two ran away from her husband, and moved into a 
shelter for abused women. She writes:

       I have been working as a secretary for almost eight years 
     now, and it still seems that there is never enough money. My 
     ex-husband doesn't even pay the ordered $55 per week, an 
     amount so small it won't even buy them both new shoes or new 
     coats. It won't pay for Little League registration * * * and 
     if I saved every penny, it wouldn't put them half way through 
     college. Why does he do this? Because he feels he can get 
     away with it and I say he's right.

  Unfortunately, she's not alone. The Office of Child Support 
Enforcement in the Department of Health and Human Services reports that 
of $35 billion of cumulative court-ordered child support owed through 
1992, $27 billion remains uncollected. In 1992, nearly six million 
absentee parents made no child support payments at all.
  This is simply wrong and my child support credit bureau reporting 
bill will help to change this.
  Very simply, State agencies responsible for child support enforcement 
will report the status of all child support accounts to the Nation's 
three major credit bureaus--TRW, Equifax, and Trans-Union. With this 
information appearing on credit reports, individual lenders will know 
on a monthly basis whether parents owe court-ordered child support and 
whether they are fulfilling this most basic obligations. After all, is 
a parent's obligation to pay court-ordered child support any less 
important than that parent's obligation to make a car payment or pay 
their credit card bills?
  Last year, I asked the GAO to survey 16 States, credit bureaus, and 
some lenders regarding this proposal. I introduced my bill after 
receiving the favorable GAO report, entitled ``Child Support 
Enforcement--Credit Bureau Reporting Shows Promise,'' on June 3, 1994. 
Generally, the GAO found that my proposal can increase child support 
collections, that it is administratively feasible, and, most 
importantly, it can be implemented with little cost to either State or 
Federal governments. In short, over time, my bill will help save money 
and increase court-ordered child support collections.
  Mr. Speaker, we have done nearly all we can in the way of Federal 
statute; we already mandate tax-refund intercepts, the withholding of 
court-ordered support from wages, liens on property, and so on. But 
government cannot do this alone. The private sector must also reinforce 
the principle of parental responsibility. My bill will provide private-
sector banks, credit card agencies, merchants, and businesses the 
information they should weigh when making loan decisions. Private 
sector lenders should attach at least as much importance to a parent's 
track record for paying court-ordered child support as they do to 
credit card balances and loan payments. And failure to pay court-
ordered child support should carry grave consequences.
  Mr. Speaker, if we support family values, then surely this is a 
sensible and necessary step. Those in the private sector--banks, credit 
card agencies, and businesses--should put court-ordered child support 
on the scale when weighing the decision to make a loan. We must send 
the message that both parents are responsible for supporting their 
children and that child support is a debt parents cannot afford to 
ignore.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that a copy of the bill be inserted in the Record 
at this point.


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