[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 21, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H1129-H1132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING IMPORTANCE OF FAMILIES AND CHILDREN IN UNITED STATES AND 
     EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR GOALS AND IDEAS OF NATIONAL FAMILY DAY

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 288) recognizing the importance 
of families and children in the United States and expressing support 
for the goals and ideas of National Family Day.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 288

       Whereas national evidence indicates that America's kids are 
     faced with oppressive issues such as violence, drugs, abuse, 
     and even family stress, causing the future of the children of 
     the United States, and therefore the future of the Nation, to 
     be at risk;
       Whereas families in the United States, regardless of their 
     economic status, ethnic or cultural heritage, or geographic 
     location, are experiencing the pressures caused by 
     contemporary society while trying to raise and nurture 
     emotionally healthy and physically safe children;
       Whereas Americans realize the challenges of spending 
     quality family time together amidst today's busy lifestyles 
     and balancing work schedules and kids' activities to 
     regularly share a family meal;
       Whereas it is imperative that the people of the United 
     States act willfully and purposely to secure a positive 
     future for the Nation by devoting time to family bonding, 
     sharing traditions, and communicating values to children in 
     an effort to sustain the importance of family;
       Whereas KidsPeace, one of the Nation's oldest, most 
     comprehensive not-for-profit organizations dedicated to 
     helping children attain the confidence and courage needed to 
     face and overcome crises, has established National FamilyDay 
     to focus unified attention on nurturing family relationships 
     and improving family communications thereby helping to build 
     strong families which give kids peace;
       Whereas National FamilyDay will be celebrated annually on a 
     Sunday in March; and
       Whereas National FamilyDay will provide opportunities for 
     families to reclaim the family mealtime which fosters trust 
     and builds better communication, and will encourage parents, 
     grandparents, and caregivers to recognize the importance of 
     being involved in the physical and emotional lives of their 
     children: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the Congress--
       (1) recognizes the importance of children and families to 
     the future of the United States;
       (2) expresses support for the goals and ideas of National 
     FamilyDay as established by KidsPeace;
       (3) encourages the people of the United States to 
     participate in local and national activities honoring 
     National FamilyDay; and
       (4) believes that families who communicate and spend time 
     together create stronger families which give kids peace.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gekas). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling) and the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Roemer) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling).
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

[[Page H1130]]

  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 288, to 
recognize the importance of families and children in the United States 
and to express support for the goals and ideas of National Family Day.
  Let us not underestimate the importance of families. Today's families 
provide the foundation for America's future. The family is the most 
fundamental of society's institutions, for it is within the family 
setting that character, morality, responsibility, and wisdom are 
nurtured best in children.
  Families that have committed and dedicated parents raise children who 
prefer commitment rather than self-indulgence, become law-abiding 
rather than law-avoiding, and become productive members of society.
  On the other hand, when the family structure is not strong, the 
results for individuals and society in general are not nearly as 
bright.
  Research on the effects of the out-of-wedlock birth and divorce show 
that children in broken families drop out of school more frequently, 
become sexually active at younger ages, have higher rates of crime and 
drug abuse, and earn lower incomes as adults. And I want to point out 
that I have an exception up there, a young man who is now at West 
Point, who does not fit into that category.
  Statistics regarding the collapse of the American family are 
disheartening. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 
32.8 percent of all children born in 1997 were born out of wedlock. 
These percentages were not unique with regard to race. The number of 
children born out of wedlock was disturbingly high among whites, 
blacks, and Hispanics.
  A total of 20 million children now live with single parents in the 
United States. Of these children, 12.6 million live in the poorest 
families.
  The ramifications of these high divorce rates are discouraging. More 
and more Americans are members of the second, third, and even forth 
generation of broken families in which fathers and mothers are 
alienated from one another, leaving their children to bear the 
consequences.
  The American Journal of Sociology and the Journal of Marriage and the 
Family report that divorce weakens a child's relationship with his or 
her parents, creates emotional problems that reinforces destructive 
ways of handling conflicts, and diminishes social competence.
  Apart from the physical dilapidation of families, research has also 
demonstrated the devastating consequences of dysfunctional families.
  The amount of conversation and the level of interaction between 
parents and children have an enormous impact on children's development. 
The reduction of interaction between parents and their children should, 
therefore, be a grave cause for concern to all of us.
  According to the University of Maryland, by 1990 parents on average 
were available to their children 10 hours less per week than they were 
in 1980 and 40 percent less than in 1965.
  H. Con. Res. 288 recognizes and supports National Family Day to help 
focus attention on nurturing family relationships and improving family 
communication. H. Con. Res. 288 recognizes the importance of children 
and families to the future of the United States, encourages citizens to 
participate in local and national activities honoring National Family 
Day, and encourages families to communicate and spend more time 
together to create stronger families.
  National Family Day is a relatively new annual event held every year 
in March to honor and celebrate the importance of the American family. 
National Family Day was established by Kids Peace, a nonprofit 
organization that is dedicated to helping children obtain the 
confidence and courage needed to face and overcome crises. Kids Peace 
helps over 2,000 children in crisis each day at 25 centers across the 
Nation.
  Once again, I would like to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Toomey) and Kids Peace for their efforts to improve America's 
families. I urge my colleagues and people across the country to join 
with them in supporting efforts to help our families.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROEMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. ROEMER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. ROEMER. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling), the chairman of the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce that I serve on, for managing 
the time. I would also like to thank my friend, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey), who has joined together with me to introduce 
this resolution and cosponsor it and talk about it on the floor; and I 
look forward to his comments, as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 288, which 
recognizes the importance, the vital importance, of children and 
families in the United States and expresses the support of some of the 
following goals of a National Family Day.
  One of the things that this concurrent resolution expresses, and I 
think this is important for our colleagues to hear, it is the second 
``whereas'' clause. ``Whereas national evidence indicates that 
America's kids are faced with oppressive issues such as violence, 
drugs, abuse, and even family stress, causing the future of the 
children of the United States, and therefore the future of the Nation, 
to be at risk.''
  Now, we had a report several years ago, about 16 years ago, in 1984, 
which was a report on the status of American education which firmly and 
boldly stated that, if education was at risk, America was at risk.
  Our families are the foundation of everything in this country.

                              {time}  1415

  And so if there is something directed or targeted at the stability, 
the care, the community, the love, the sustainability of our families, 
it is targeted at the health, the very fiber and the very soul of our 
country. So this resolution, I think, simply tries to state that in all 
the busy things that we do in Congress, at work, in our communities, 
that nothing is more important in our homes than time spent with our 
children.
  Another whereas clause simply states, on page 2, whereas it is 
imperative that the people of the United States act willfully and 
purposely to secure a positive future for the Nation by devoting time 
to family bonding, sharing traditions, and communicating values to 
children in an effort to sustain the importance of family.
  Mr. Speaker, this is what this resolution is all about. It is simple, 
straightforward, and bipartisan in its appeal on behalf of our families 
and our children to refocus attention on the family and on spending 
time with our children in order to strengthen families and create 
healthy communication between our children and our parents. National 
Family Day is a new annual event held on a Sunday in March to honor and 
celebrate the American family.
  Mr. Speaker, our children are our most precious gift. We cannot 
afford to let even one slip through the cracks. KidsPeace and other 
organizations throughout the United States are doing good work in 
reaching out to those children who are most at risk in society and 
helping them develop the courage and the skills to overcome crises. But 
no matter how hard they try, these organizations cannot take the place 
of loving parents, stable homes, and a healthy environment in which 
kids can feel safe, loved and positive about their lives and their 
futures.
  I want to conclude, Mr. Speaker, as Robert Kennedy once said, and I 
quote, when one of us prospers, all of us prosper, and when one of us 
fails, so do we all.
  We cannot afford to have one of our children fail in this great 
Nation. Therefore, let us emphasize the importance of one of the most 
important institutions that can help save our children, and that is the 
institution of family. Let us pass this bipartisan day. Let us put 
emphasis on a simple yet straightforward, yet vitally important concept 
of family, and let us focus on this as a solution to many problems in 
the future.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey), the cosponsor on our side of 
the legislation, a very important member of the Pennsylvania 
delegation.
  Mr. TOOMEY. Mr. Speaker, we are here today, and I rise in strong 
support

[[Page H1131]]

of House Concurrent Resolution 288 authored, as we have heard, by 
myself and my friend the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer). H. Con. 
Res. 288 supports National Family Day as we have heard which is 
sponsored by KidsPeace. KidsPeace is a national, nonprofit organization 
based in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. They have dozens of 
facilities across the country, treating over 2,000 children facing 
crisis.
  KidsPeace also has various prevention programs to help children 
before a crisis arises. It cares for some of our most troubled children 
and helps all of the children they deal with to develop the confidence 
and the skills to avoid and to overcome crisis. They help children 
anticipate and overcome crises from disasters and personal traumas, to 
family issues and neglect, to severe depression, eating disorders, and 
the general stresses that any children experience in our modern 
society.
  I am very proud to have such a worthwhile organization based in my 
community in the 15th District of Pennsylvania. What KidsPeace has done 
is they have developed a great idea with the National Tabletop and 
Giftware Association, the folks who make the plates, the silverware, 
and the cooking utensils we use to prepare our meals.
  Their idea is this National Family Day, a day to remind us of the 
need to reclaim the family mealtime for the family. This year is its 
first year. National Family Day is this coming Sunday, March 26. It 
will always be held on a Sunday in March.
  KidsPeace is undertaking a variety of activities to support this 
National Family Day. Perhaps most interesting of these is this brochure 
that I am holding in my hand. Plate and silverware companies throughout 
our Nation are distributing millions of these brochures at their 
stores. As the brochure says, ``The family evening meal has been the 
source of building healthy communication and family bonds for 
centuries. Yet it is becoming a lost art in modern America.''
  The brochure goes on to give eight simple steps on how a family can 
reclaim their mealtime to foster open communication and healthy 
relationships. KidsPeace and its President, C.T. O'Donnell, are to be 
commended for developing this brochure. I also want to commend the 
National Tabletop and Giftware Association and its president, William 
Simpson of Pfaltzgraff in York, Pennsylvania, I believe that is the 
chairman's hometown, for distributing this brochure. I want to thank 
the majority leader, the chairman of the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce and certainly the gentleman from Indiana for all of their 
work and help on this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House's indulgence for one last note before I 
conclude. When I announced these efforts and my introduction of a House 
resolution at a news conference in my district, we were joined by a 
family from the Lehigh Valley. Eric and Toni Hummel with their son 
Michael who is 9 years old and their daughter Lauren who is 1 talked 
about the need for a reminder to help make family mealtimes a priority 
in all of our family lives.
  I took their words to heart because my wife and I are expecting our 
first child in June. We both know that we have very busy lives and we 
will have to be constantly on guard that we are not letting our child's 
time slip away from us. I want to thank my colleagues. I want to thank 
them for all their help in support of this resolution which will serve 
as the reminder that the Hummel family pointed out to all of us.
  Mr. ROEMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. George Miller) the ranking member of the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman 
from Indiana for yielding me this time and thank him for his 
involvement with this legislation as I do the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania, apparently everybody from Pennsylvania is involved, and 
commend them for this resolution.
  I would, however, say this, that I would hope that as we count down 
the number of legislative days remaining in this session that we keep 
the purpose and the intent of this resolution in mind and that is about 
strengthening families and giving families the tools by which they can 
strengthen the relationship among the members of that family, 
especially with their children, recognizing the complexities and the 
pressures of contemporary American society. But I would hope also that 
the Congress would take this resolution to heart and would understand 
that there is a family agenda that yet needs to be met within this 
Congress. It deals with the issues of education, it deals with the 
issue of the safety of our children, it deals with the issue of the 
health care available to our families, housing available to our 
families and the kind of child care that is now needed by families as 
they find the pressures of the workplace encroaching more and more on 
the time that they used to have for their families and to take care of 
the mentoring of their children.
  And to fix our crumbling schools. We see there is some $112 to $115 
billion backlog in school facilities, recognizing the need to do this 
so children can go to a decent facility where they can engage in the 
learning experience and acquire the tools that will befit them as they 
take their place in our society. I am worried that this resolution 
becomes a substitute for addressing that agenda, because that would not 
be fair to America's families.
  Clearly America's families, those who toil at the minimum wage, need 
an increase in the minimum wage. We know that those who toil at the 
minimum wage continue to toil and at the end of the year if they work 
all year long, they are below the poverty rate in this country. We now 
see where the biggest growth in homeless, certainly in my State in 
California but in many other areas of the Nation, is working families 
with children.
  They simply have been priced out of the market. It does not mean they 
are not working. It does not mean they are not caring for their 
children. It does not mean they do not love their children. They simply 
now are unable to find housing for their children. That is the biggest 
new growth rate in homeless in the State of California which is having 
an economic resurgence unparalleled anywhere else in the country.
  At a time when we are creating over 100 millionaires a week, we find 
out that the very same people who are working for many of those 
millionaires in their factories are unable to live near their work or 
to find a house at all for them and for their children. In many 
instances those workers are temporary workers, they work essentially 
what we would call full time but they are characterized as temporary 
workers, which means they do not get the benefits. So they do not have 
health care for them or their children.
  In many instances the companies fail to provide it or are unable to 
provide it. And so clearly there are these kinds of efforts that we can 
make on behalf of America's families and on behalf of America's 
children. Because in many instances there is no other place for these 
families to go to get help while they work and they struggle and they 
work full time. They do not have the means to provide health insurance. 
They do not have the means to provide housing. They are going to have 
to turn for assistance to the other, the great American family, if you 
will, that sees that plight and understands that struggle.
  So hopefully this resolution will not only recognize the needs of 
families and our commitments to them, it will also provide them some 
additional empathy by Members of Congress of the plight of many 
millions of American families who are working very hard and struggling 
and still not able to make ends meet that we have an obligation to see 
what we can do to make sure that they can do that so they can provide a 
healthy environment and a sustainable environment for their children.
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.
  The author of the resolution made reference to the brochure, 
``Reclaim the Family Mealtime''. It says on the front cover, ``Are you 
losing contact with the people you love? Is your family time being 
squeezed out by work pressures, kids' activities, and a hectic, fast-
paced schedule?'' Then inside it says, ``If so, the solution may be as 
close as this evening's meal.''
  I am reminded even though we were a family of eight, six children and 
dirt

[[Page H1132]]

poor, we did not realize we were poor because of the closeness of that 
family relationship. Through my first eight grades in school, as a 
matter of fact, we sat down together at meals three times a day, 
because we went home for lunch rather than stay in school. And then 
when we went on to high school, we still had meals together two times a 
day. What an important time that was.
  Today, we oftentimes hear people say, well, mother and father both 
have to work. That is not necessarily so. It depends on the lifestyle 
you want. Yes, I got my first suit of long pants given to me by 
neighbors. Only one worked away from home.
  So oftentimes we find excuses as to why we do as little as we do to 
keep families together, but I do not think there are any statistics 
that would prove otherwise than that a family unit is one of the three 
or four most important things we have going for us in a free society 
and without it, that society will fall from within.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent 
Resolution 288, to recognize the importance of families and children in 
the United States, and to express support for the goals and ideas of 
National Family Day.
  You know, its no secret that the family is the most fundamental of 
society's institutions, for it is within the family setting that 
character, morality, responsibility, ability, and wisdom are nurtured 
best in children.
  Unfortunately, today, the family institution is being steadily 
dismantled, even held in disdain by many leaders in the political, 
academic and media elite.
  And the erosion has serious consequences:
  In 1950, for every 100 children born, 12 entered a broken family. 
Today, for every 100 children born, 60 will enter a broken family. Each 
year, about one million children experience the divorce of their 
parents. 1.25 million are born out of wedlock, and another 1.4 million 
are aborted. Child abuse is growing steadily and alarmingly sexual 
abuse amongst children is growing fastest of all.
  In short, Americans are literally turning against their children. But 
adults suffer as well from the breakdown of the family institution. 
Studies clearly show that those who divorce suffer shorter life 
expectancies, poorer physical and psychological health and lowered 
standards of living.
  In addition, research continues on the correlation between a family 
founded on a lifelong marriage and low incidences of crime, addiction, 
abuse, illness, and underachievement.
  Our country must focus national attention on problems whose roots lie 
in the breakdown of the family institution and marriage, as well as 
public policies that contribute to those problems.
  On the national level, over the last few years, Congress has begun to 
evaluate how the federal government's policies have been hostile to 
marriage and the family.
  Last month, the House overwhelmingly passed the Marriage Penalty Tax 
Relief Act, which will stop the government's practice of excessively 
taxing couples just because they are married. This will keep the IRS 
off the alter and provide more money for families that may mean a new 
washing machine, extra tuition money for a child, a three bedroom home 
or fixing the family car--this is real relief for working families.
  In 1997, we passed the $500-per-child tax credit, the most important 
policy advance for the family. And we enacted adoption and foster care 
reforms so that children are given permanent homes quickly and not left 
revolving in the child welfare system year after year.
  And in 1996, we reformed welfare ending the cycle of dependency for 
many. We ended the practice of having the government filling the roles 
of family, church and voluntary associations.
  This year, we will take up important legislation establishing 
education savings accounts permitting parents to put money aside for a 
child's education.
  But, beyond the beltway, beyond this Capitol, is where most of the 
changes are occurring--as is often the case.
  This is where the real change is taking place--and rightly so.
  Abstinence education to address the rising rates of out-of-wedlock 
births, counseling to address the rising rates of divorce and after-
school programs to get kids off the street are happening throughout 
America.
  KidsPeace, a 117-year-old non-profit organization that directly helps 
over 2,000 children in crisis every day at 25 centers across the 
nation, and millions more through prevention and public education 
efforts, recognizes all of these facts and has created National Family 
Day.
  National Family Day is a relatively new, annual event held every 
March to honor and celebrate the importance of the American family.
  This year, it will focus attention on the family meal as a time to 
build healthy communication and lasting bonds with children.
  The amount of conversation and the level of interaction between 
parents and children has an enormous impact on a child's development. 
Even in intact families, however, children suffer from a lack of 
intimate time with their parents. One of the sad consequences of the 
breakdown of society today is that, to pay the bills or fulfill their 
higher expectations for material comforts, more mothers work outside of 
the home. This fact coupled with the numbers of single-parent families 
and the rising rate of divorce, means there has been a tragic reduction 
in ``family time.''
  Adequate time with parents is critical for the development of every 
child, especially for self-esteem and confidence. The reduction of time 
between parents and children is cause for grave concern. It attenuates 
the most important relationship to a child and correspondingly derives 
him of the strength he derives from his parents.
  As Harvard University child psychiatrist Robert Cole puts it, ``The 
frenzied need of children to have possessions isn't only a function of 
the ads they see on TV. It's a function of their hunger for what they 
aren't getting--their parents time.''
  By 1990, parents were, on average, available 10 hours less per week 
to their children than they were in 1980 and 40 percent less than they 
were in 1965.
  In a 1990 Los Angeles Times poll found that 57 percent of all fathers 
and 55 percent of all mothers felt guilty about spending too little 
time with their children. The poll also found that 73 percent of all 
married couples would have one parent stay home full-time with the 
children if money were not the issue.
  I congratulate KidsPeace for their efforts to improve the family 
structure and call on my colleagues and everyone in our country to join 
with then in supporting efforts which will create stronger families.

                              {time}  1430

  Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gekas). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling) that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. 
Res. 288.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________