[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 121 (Thursday, September 16, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S11062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                    PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD

 Mr. BAYH. Mr. President, I respectfully request that the 
attached statement delivered by Governor Pedro Rossello, of Puerto 
Rico, before the Human Resources Committee of the National Governors' 
Association be printed in the Record. This statement was made in 
reference to S. 1364, the Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Act of 1999.
  The statement follows.

 Remarks by the Honorable Pedro Rossello, Governor of Puerto Rico and 
Co-Lead Governor on Fatherhood in the National Governors' Association, 
   Delivered at a Meeting of the Committee on Human Resources of the 
 National Governors' Association, Saint Louis, Missouri, August 8, 1999

       Thank you, Mister Chairman.
       Governor Tom Ridge and I are extremely enthusiastic about 
     the duties we have been discharging as the N-G-A's Lead 
     Governors on Fatherhood.
       And in that regard, I certainly want to acknowledge the 
     superb collaboration that we have received from the 
     colleagues who serve with us as fellow members of the 
     Governors' Task Force on Fatherhood Promotion.
       As has been documented by the N-G-A Center for Best 
     Practices, the efforts we've been undertaking have yielded a 
     rich harvest.
       That harvest encompasses: An intensification of public 
     awareness campaigns--in nearly all of the states and 
     territories--to promote positive father involvement; a 
     sharper focus for programs, throughout the nation, that are 
     aimed at developing the parenting skills of new fathers; and 
     better targeted support services for disadvantaged or non-
     custodial fathers, so that they can learn how to improve 
     their relationships with their children.
       During this past year, our Task Force also expanded its 
     outreach, while joining with the National Fatherhood 
     Initiative, as a co-sponsor of the 1999 National Summit on 
     Supporting Urban Fathers.
       At the event 2 months ago, we helped spearhead the creation 
     of a brand new Mayors' Task Force on Fatherhood Promotion.
       As a result, Governors and Mayors are now pooling their 
     resources and putting their heads together on multi-sectoral 
     approaches that can meet the challenge of promoting 
     responsible fatherhood in those urban communities where 
     absenteeism and neglect place very large numbers of children 
     at risk.
       We Governors can take considerable satisfaction in the 
     progress we have made since we last gathered to discuss the 
     need for an aggressive campaign to foster conscientious 
     fatherhood.
       Nevertheless, it remains a fact that we still have a long 
     way to go in this important quest to improve the home 
     environments and--by extension--the learning environments of 
     countless thousands of girls and boys and teenagers . . . all 
     across America.
       And with that in mind, I strongly recommend that this 
     Committee renew its support for N-G-A Policy H-R 28, on the 
     subject of Paternal Involvement in Child-Rearing.
       However, I would also submit that we must go further.
       In addition to re-committing ourselves to a policy 
     statement which underscores our collective determination to 
     enter the new millennium with stronger families and a 
     brighter future for the nation's young people, we must 
     likewise re-commit ourselves to a partnership with other 
     elected officials who share those indispensable aspirations.
       So it is that I hope each and every one of us will 
     emphatically endorse Congressional enactment of the 
     Responsible Fatherhood Act of 1999.
       This bill, introduced less than a month ago by Senators 
     Evan Bayh and Pete Domenici, will empower states and 
     communities with new tools to encourage the formation--and 
     the maintenance--of two-parent households, as well as the 
     acceptance by absent fathers of personal responsibility for 
     their children. This bipartisan legislation will provide 
     states and communities with flexible funding to promote 
     responsible fatherhood, through alliances with news media, 
     charities, community-based organizations and religious 
     institutions.
       The bill will also amend the ``high-performance bonus'' 
     that was created by the 1996 Federal welfare reform statute; 
     the amendment will establish that the formation and 
     maintenance of two-parent families shall henceforward be 
     taken into account as one of the factors considered when 
     granting bonuses to states that are successful in obtaining 
     private-sector jobs for welfare recipients.
       These and other provisions of the Responsible Fatherhood 
     Act of 1999 will lend tangible support to our own pioneering 
     efforts on behalf of fatherhood promotion.
       And I am confident that the initiatives contemplated under 
     this bill can be put into effect without jeopardizing any of 
     the existing appropriations that mean so much to our states 
     and communities.
       In summary, then, I invite your attention and your 
     allegiance to both the renewal of our N-G-A Policy-Plank, H-R 
     28, and to this very promising new Federal legislation 
     measure.
       That concludes what I hope we can agree has been a report 
     that was at once brief and to the point.
       Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

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