[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.
____________________