[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 14, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8507-S8509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BAYH (for himself, Mr. Domenici, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. 
        Lieberman, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Graham, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Voinovich, 
        Mr. Robb, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Edwards, and Mr. Bingaman):
  S. 1364. A bill to amend title IV of the Social Security Act to 
increase public awareness regarding the benefits of lasting and stable 
marriages and community involvement in the promotion of marriage and 
fatherhood issues, to provide greater flexibility in the Welfare-to-
Work grant program for long-term welfare recipients and low income 
custodial and noncustodial parents, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Finance.


                   responsible fatherhood act of 1999

 MR. BAYH. Mr. President, I rise today with my good friend 
Senator Domenici to introduce the Responsible Fatherhood Act of 1999.
  The irony in our nation's unprecedented economic prosperity is that 
many Americans still feel the country is on the wrong track--that there 
is a deterioration of values in our society. There seems to be a 
fraying of the social fabric and many indicators point to the increase 
in absentee fathers as the culprit.
  America's moms are true heroes in the lives of their children. While 
most fathers are heroic in their own right, many are not involved 
enough--too many are completely absent. Fathers can teach kids about 
respect, honor, duty and the values that make our communities strong. 
But there has been a troubling decline in the involvement of fathers in 
the lives of their children over the last 40 years--a decline that 
should worry us all.
  The number of kids living in households without fathers has tripled 
over the last forty years, from just over 5 million in 1960 to more 
than 17 million today. The United States leads the world in fatherless 
families and too many kids spend their lives without any contact with 
their fathers. The consequences of this dramatic decrease in the 
involvement of fathers in the lives of their children are severe. When 
fathers are absent from their lives, children are: five times more 
likely to live in poverty, twice as likely to commit crime, more likely 
to bring weapons and drugs into the classroom, twice as likely to drop 
out of school, twice as likely to be abused, more likely to commit 
suicide, over twice as likely to abuse alcohol or drugs, and more 
likely to become pregnant as teenagers.
  Community efforts have sprung up around the country to stem the 
rising tide of fatherless families and encourage responsible parenting. 
Today I am introducing the Responsible Fatherhood Act of 1999 with 
Senators Domenici, Lincoln, Lieberman, Landrieu, Graham, Lugar, 
Voinovich, Robb, Breaux, Edwards, and Bingaman. This bill is a fiscally 
responsible approach that will provide support to states and 
communities to promote responsible fatherhood.
  Specifically, our bill would do three things. First it would raise 
awareness about the importance of responsible fatherhood by authorizing 
a public awareness campaign, designed by states and communities, to 
help change attitudes, particularly among young men, about the 
responsibilities that go with fathering a child. Second, our 
legislation creates a block grant program expanding responsible 
fatherhood promotion programs at the state and local level. The grants 
would be supplemented by funds and involvement from state and local 
government, civic, charitable, non-profit and faith-based 
organizations. Finally, the bill changes existing federal law to 
encourage a stronger connection between fathers and their children 
through increased child support to families and more available training 
through the Welfare-to-Work program for low-income fathers.
  Congress alone cannot solve this problem. However, I believe this 
bill represents an important first step toward reversing the rising 
tide of fatherlessness in this country. I urge my colleagues to support 
this important initiative.
 Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that I 
rise today with Senator Bayh to introduce the Responsible Fatherhood 
Act of 1999.
  Even on its best day the government can never be a replacement for a 
loving two parent family. As the father of eight I cherish the moments 
I have spent and will spend with my children because they are my best 
friends.
  But sadly, there is a growing trend among American children, they are 
growing up without the love and guidance of their fathers and in many 
cases these children are going years without seeing their fathers.
  This trend has taken a terrible toll on not only our children and 
families, but our nation as a whole. For instance in my home state of 
New Mexico over 24 percent of families do not have fathers present in 
the home.
  Nationally, the numbers are not any better; nearly 25 million 
children or 36 percent of all kids live without their biological father 
and since 1960 the number of children living without their father has 
jumped from 5 million to 17 million. Additionally, about 40 percent of 
these children have not seen their father in the last year.
  I cannot think of two more important issues facing our nation than 
the dual goal of promoting marriage and responsible fatherhood. I 
believe you could describe the role parents play in the lives of their 
children in the following way: providing love, guidance, and 
discipline; while at the same time teaching about respect, honor, duty 
and the values that make our nation so great.
  And while we all acknowledge the positive benefits of a two parent 
family these are more and more families where fathers simply are not 
present in the lives of their children. I would submit this is a 
tragedy because a child growing up without a father or a mother simply 
misses out on something very special.
  I recently came across a quotation that I think is appropriate: ``it 
is a wise father that knows his own child.'' However, the exact 
opposite is now occurring with a growing trend towards absentee 
fathers.
  The bill we are introducing today seeks to reverse this trend by 
providing states and communities with support for the dual goal of 
promoting marriage and responsible fatherhood.
  Specifically, the bill: authorizes a public awareness campaign to 
promote responsible fatherhood and the formation and maintenance of 
married two parent families.
  Additionally, our bill creates a responsible parenting block program 
to provide support for state and local governments, nonprofit, 
charitable and religious organizations' efforts to promote responsible 
fatherhood and the formation and maintenance of married two parent 
families at the state and local level.
  The final component of the bill changes existing Federal law to 
encourage a stronger connection between fathers and children through 
increased child support to families and more available training through 
the Welfare-

[[Page S8508]]

to-Work program for low-income non-custodial fathers. There is one 
provision within this component I would like to specifically focus on 
and that is the State option to disregard child support collected for 
purposes of determining eligibility for, or amount of, TANF assistance.
  While it is the intent of this section to allow States to disregard 
certain child support collected that amount is also limited only to 
cases where states have chosen to pass-through up to $75 of child 
support payments per month directly to the family and then only that 
$75 may be disregarded by states.
  In closing, I want to encourage my colleagues to lend their support 
to this important issue and Senator Bayh, I very much look forward to 
working with you on this exciting piece of legislation.
 Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, our society is suffering from 
the deterioration of the married, two-parent family. According to a 
recent report by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers, ``The State 
of Our Unions: The Social Health of Marriage in America,'' marriage 
rates are at a 40-year low and there are fewer social forces holding 
them together. As the number of marriages has declined, unwed births 
have dramatically grown. Unfortunately, the result is more and more 
children are being born into fragile families.
  As the report states, ``Marriage is a fundamental social institution 
. . . It is the `social glue' that reliably attaches fathers to 
children.'' Nearly 25 million children, more than 1 out of 3, live 
absent their biological father, and 17 million kids live without a 
father of any kind. Even more troubling, about 40 percent of the 
children living in fatherless households have not seen their fathers in 
at least a year, and 50 percent of children who do not live with their 
fathers have never stepped foot in their father's home.
  This growing problem of father absence is taking a terrible toll on 
those children, who are being denied the love, guidance, discipline, 
emotional nourishment and financial support that fathers usually 
provide.
  Parents act as a nurturing and stable foundation for children. They 
are a guiding force to which children readily open their arms. In a 
recent poll conducted by Nickelodeon and Time magazine, three-quarters 
of the children, ages six to 14, polled stated that they wished they 
could spend more time with their parents. In addition, kids 
consistently ranked parents at the very top of the list when asked to 
name the people they look up to.
  More than friends or teachers, parents shape their children's value 
systems. As dads disappear, the American family is becoming 
significantly weaker, as are the values we depend on families to 
transmit. In turn, the risks to the health and well-being of children 
are becoming significantly higher. Social science research repeatedly 
shows that children growing up without fathers are far more likely to 
live in poverty, to fail in school, experience behavioral and emotional 
problems, develop drug and alcohol problems, commit suicide, and 
experience physical abuse and neglect.
  We have seen the devastating results of this breakdown in our culture 
as the number of violent incidences among young males, in particular, 
rises. Statistics reveal that violent criminals are overwhelmingly 
males who grew up without fathers.
  Concerned citizens and grass-roots groups are paying attention to the 
statistics, and they are actively seeking solutions neighborhood by 
neighborhood across the nation. A shining example of this united effort 
is the National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) which was formed to help 
raise awareness of the problem of father absence and its consequences 
and to mobilize a national response to it. To date, the NFI has made 
tremendous progress, working in communities across the country to set 
up educational programs and promote responsible fatherhood.
  There are limits to what we in government and here in Congress can do 
to change society's attitudes toward marriage and out-of-wedlock 
births, but we are not powerless. I am proud to sign on to the proposal 
introduced by my colleagues Senators Evan Bayh and Pete Domenici, ``The 
Resppnsible Fatherhood Act of 1999,'' that will help strengthen fragile 
families and promote responsible fatherhood, as well as promote the 
formation and maintenance of married, two-parent families.
  I would like to highlight a few key provisions that will 
significantly increase efforts at the state and local level to 
reconnect fathers and families, thereby ensuring a brighter, more 
secure future for our youth.
  Unfortunately, few television shows and movies produced today 
highlight the value of marriage. Cohabitation and out-of-wedlock sex 
are handled so casually that young people see little incentive for 
marriage. This bipartisan legislation authorizes a challenge grant to 
encourage states and local communities to initiate media campaigns that 
promote responsible fatherhood and the importance of a married, two-
parent family in a child's life. Rather than the typical barrage of 
negative images, young people need to see positive messages on 
fatherhood and marriage.
  States, localities and community organizations are already helping 
lead the fight at the local level for responsible fatherhood. Their 
efforts must be bolstered, not hindered. This proposal authorizes a 
Responsible Parenting Block Grant to provide support for state and 
local government, nonprofit, charitable and religious organizations' 
efforts.
  No one solution exists that will reconnect fathers and families, but 
a combined effort can make a difference. That is why a national 
clearinghouse would be established to facilitate the exchange of ideas 
and sharing of success stories. Such a clearinghouse also would produce 
and distribute resources to aid those leading the charge at the 
community level. The National Fatherhood Initiative has been 
highlighted as an exemplary group to house such a clearinghouse.
  Although many fathers desire to make a financial contribution to 
their family, they are unable to because they lack the necessary skills 
to obtain jobs. In 1997, Congress passed Welfare to Work legislation to 
help the hardest-to-employ welfare recipients and low-income, non-
custodial parents move into jobs. Unfortunately, many states have not 
been able to use their full funding because of restrictive federal 
guidelines. The Responsible Fatherhood Act will provide states and 
cities the flexibility they need to serve a broader group of low-
income, non-custodial fathers, and provide services to increase the 
employment and parenting skills of eligible fathers.
  Under the current system, fathers with children on welfare are 
discouraged from paying child support as payments are instead typically 
shifted to state agencies to offset welfare benefits. Research 
demonstrates that fathers are more connected with their children and 
more likely to pay child support when they believe their payment is 
going directly to their family, and not the government. Children on 
welfare are precisely the children who have been identified as group 
most in need of father involvement, and we should eliminate any 
barriers that prevent this critical bond from taking place. Therefore, 
this legislation would establish the federal government as a partner to 
states that want to exercise an option to pass-through up to $75 of 
child support payments per month directly to the family without 
impacting welfare eligibility.
  Implementing new innovative fatherhood initiatives should not be a 
rigorous, burdensome process. States should have the flexibility to use 
child-support funds on programs that support and promote fatherhood 
instead of paying funds back to TANF. Getting fathers back to work and 
reconnected to their families will do more to move families off of 
welfare permanently.
  The Responsible Fatherhood Act of 1999, I believe, marks a major 
turning point in the politics of the family as is evidenced by the 
solid bipartisan consensus coalescing behind this proposal. Promoting 
responsible fatherhood does not take away from the efforts of single 
mothers, but helps ensure that children receive the benefits provided 
by two caring parents. Addressing the critical role fathers play in the 
lives of their children is no longer a politically taboo topic. The 
research is convincing and, unfortunately, mounting every year--
children need the support and involvement of both parents to lead 
happy, healthy, productive lives.
  I thank Senators Bayh and Domenici for leading this effort. I am 
proud to join them as a cosponsor.

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