[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 22 (Thursday, March 2, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E221]]



                   THE CHILD SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 2, 2000

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Child Support for 
Children Act. This legislation will connect non-custodial fathers to 
their children and provide a crucial support to low-income, single 
parent families.
  When we passed welfare reform in 1996, we dramatically improved the 
way we enforce payment of child support. As a result of these changes, 
child support collections nearly doubled in 1999 to $15.5 billion, an 
increase of $8 billion since 1992.
  Yet at the same time, we undercut these improvements by requiring a 
set of arcane rules for how we distribute child support to former 
welfare families. Worst of all, we repealed the pass-through and 
disregard of the first $50 of child support paid to families on 
welfare, and allowed states to retain all child support for these low-
income families.
  This is the wrong policy. Child support is meant to help the children 
of non-custodial parents, not the state. Passing through child support 
not only connects fathers to their children, it provides a crucial 
support to poor families. Considering that the income of the poorest 
single-mother families has dropped for the first time in eight years, 
we must ensure that child support payments are used to improve the 
lives of our poorest children.
  Federal child support collection and distribution rules are 
complicated and almost impossible to administer. Most importantly, they 
discourage payment of support by fathers to their families. With my 
bill, we have an opportunity to connect fathers to their children, 
boost the income of poor families, and fix a system in desperate need 
of change.
  The Child Support for Children Act would require states to pass 
through all current support to families receiving Temporary Assistance 
for Needy Families. Furthermore, the bill provides a financial 
incentive to states to discount this income when considering a family's 
eligibility for cash welfare. For every dollar of child support 
disregarded by states for the purposes of TANF eligibility, the federal 
share of TANF collections is reduced proportionally.
  In addition, the Child Support for Children Act simplifies rules for 
the assignment and distribution of child support arrears. Although a 
family that has left welfare is currently entitled to receive most 
past-due support, several exceptions to this rule prevent former 
welfare families from receiving much-needed support payments. My 
legislation will eliminate these exceptions.
  Finally, my bill would eliminate unfair debts owed to states that 
discourage the payment of child support to families. For example, 
states can currently recover Medicaid birthing and other pregnancy-
related costs from non-custodial parents. The Child Support for 
Children Act would prohibit this practice that often discourages non-
custodial parents from coming into compliance with a child support 
order.
  It is not enough to simply enforce child support. The time is long 
overdue to reform the distribution and assignment system for child 
support. The Child Support for Children Act takes desperately-needed 
steps to promote and reward parental responsibility, and extend modest 
support to struggling, single-parent families.

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