[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 27, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H9512-H9513]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      THE EXTENSION OF DEADLINE FOR INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS 
                             IMPLEMENTATION

  Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent the immediate 
consideration of the bill (H.R. 2288) to amend part D of title IV of 
the Social Security Act to extend for 2 years the deadline by which 
States are required to have in effect an automated data processing and 
information retrieval system for use in the administration of State 
plans for child and spousal support.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I yield to the 
gentleman from Florida [Mr. Shaw] for the purposes of briefly 
explaining the bill.
  Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding under his 
reservation.
  H.R. 2288 simply gives States an additional 2 years to implement data 
processing requirements that Congress imposed on their child support 
programs in 1988. H.R. 2288 was approved on September 12, by unanimous 
voice vote of the Ways and Means Committee. According to CBO, the bill 
has no budget impact. As far as we have been able to determine, there 
are no Republicans or Democrats who oppose the bill.
  Several factors have prevented States from meeting the October 1, 
1995, deadline for meeting Federal data processing requirements. To 
date--less than a week before the deadline--only one State has actually 
finished its system.
  So beginning October 1, if we don't take action, 49 States will be 
subject to financial penalties and mandatory correction procedures.
  Clearly, if only one State can meet a deadline, something is wrong. 
That is why I rise to ask unanimous consent to extend this deadline for 
2 years.
  Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I rise 
in support of H.R. 2288, a bill to extend the deadline for State child 
support computer systems.
  One of the most important reforms of the Family Support Act of 1988 
was the mandated implementation of a statewide child support 
enforcement computer system by October 1, 1995. Without such a computer 
network, States cannot hope to effectively track and enforce child 
support obligations. In fact, back in the mid-1980's we frequently 
heard anecdotes about States keeping child support records in shoe 
boxes. It was no wonder that they had such a poor record of collecting 
child support.
  In response, Congress mandated a statewide computer system, 
authorized extra Federal funding to develop these systems, and set what 
we thought was a reasonable timetable--October 1, 1995--for 
implementation of the system. Now, as the deadline approaches we are 
told that only one State--Montana--has met this requirement and that we 
cannot expect many more to comply in the next 6 months.
  Are the States to blame for this failure? Only partially. The real 
culprit is the Bush administration--which waited 4 years after the 
legislation was signed into law to issue the specifications for this 
system. Until then, States simply did not know what standards the 
Federal Government would use to judge whether they met the 
requirements. In dragging its feet, the Bush administration was both 
irresponsible and wasteful of our scarce resources.
  So, here we are. It's a few days before the deadline and the 
Republican majority has finally brought to the floor a bill to extend 
it. I have no doubts about the Senate acting quickly enough on this 
measure for it to be signed into law by October 1. We have a chance to 
do the right thing. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2288.

                              {time}  1245

  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Everett). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the bill, as follows:
  
[[Page H 9513]]


                               H.R. 2288

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. 2-YEAR EXTENSION OF AUTOMATION DEADLINE.

       (a) In General.--Section 454(24) of the Social Security Act 
     (42 U.S.C. 654(24)) is amended by striking ``1995'' and 
     inserting ``1997''.
       (b) Technical Amendments Related to the Repeal of Federal 
     Funding.--Section 452 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 652) is amended 
     in each of subsections (d)(1)(B), (d)(2)(A), (d)(2)(B), and 
     (e), by striking ``455(a)(1)(B)'' and inserting ``454(16)''.

  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read 
the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.

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