[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 156 (Monday, November 8, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S14296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself and Mr. Stevens):
  S. 1882. A bill to expand child support enforcement through means 
other than programs financed at Federal expense; to the Committee on 
Finance.


             Child Support Enforcement Options Act of 1999

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce, along with 
my colleague, Senator Stevens, the Child Support Enforcement Options 
Act of 1999. This bill will give parents the tools and options they 
need to made sure their children have the resources they need to get a 
good start in life.
  This bill will provide local public agencies and private attorneys 
access to certain child support enforcement procedures and information 
not currently available to them. To obtain this access, however, a 
local public agency or private attorney would first have to obtain a 
certificate of registration from the Secretary of the Federal 
Department of Health and Human Services and agree to certain federal 
requirements and procedures in using the enforcement tools.
  Mr. President, in recent years Congress created a number of new 
information gathering and child support enforcement tools to enable 
some child support enforcement agencies to better enforce support 
awards. Unfortunately, these new tools are not available to hundreds of 
governmental and a growing number of private collection entities which 
many parents must use or choose to use. These so-called ``non IV-D'' 
entities have limited or no access to some new and effective federal 
collection tools. This legislation will extend these tools to so-called 
``non IV-D'' entities that are properly approved and monitored by the 
Department of Health and Human Services.
  Specifically, the bill will allow non-IV-D government agencies and 
private collection firms to be able to submit cases for the 
interception of Federal and State tax refunds for the collection of 
unpaid child support, in accordance with Federal and State statutory 
guidelines; to seek passport sanctions against delinquent parents; to 
report unpaid child support to credit bureaus; and to obtain current 
location and asset information on parents who owe child support. In 
addition, the bill provides that unemployment compensation benefits 
would be subject to income withholding for child support obligations in 
all child support cases, not just those enforced by a IV-D agency, as 
current law allows.
  Mr. President, my bill will cost the Federal Government minimal or no 
additional funds. Nor will it impose any significant obligation on 
state or local child support agencies, since all government agencies 
would be allowed under the bill to charge necessary fees to non-IV-D 
agencies with which they share this information.
  What this bill will do is take a significant step toward collecting 
on the estimated $57 billion in overdue child support owed in this 
country. Many states and local child support agencies are simply 
overwhelmed and unable to effectively and timely enforce the tens of 
millions of child support awards in this country. Far from undermining 
their role in this process, the Child Support Enforcement Options Act 
will help them accomplish the mutual goal of making sure that child 
support is collected and delivered to where it is needed the most--to 
the children to whom it is owed.
  Particularly for families on welfare or other public assistance, 
child support is often critical to make ends meet. It helps put food on 
the table, clothes in the closet, and gas in the car. When a non-
custodial parent reneges on his or her obligation to provide that 
support, it is incumbent upon the government to help enforce that 
award, through whatever means are available to the struggling custodial 
parent. In my opinion, any other consideration is secondary, and I am 
hopeful and confident that my colleagues in the Senate will agree and 
will work to pass this important legislation.
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