[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 88 (Monday, June 16, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING AMERICA'S FATHERS FOR THEIR DEDICATION TO THEIR WIVES AND 
                                CHILDREN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSEPH R. PITTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 16, 2003

  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to America's 
fathers.
  Mr. Speaker, we often hear negative comments about fathers and 
fatherhood. We hear a lot about ``deadbeat dads'' and absent fathers.
  It's easy to forget that there are millions of American fathers who 
love their wives and their children. They get up every morning and go 
to work to support their families. They go to baseball games and ballet 
performances and school plays. They help their kids with their 
homework, chaperone proms and mow the lawn. They treat their wives with 
respect and model healthy relationships. They make sacrifices and 
invest in the next generation.
  Current research shows that these daily acts of responsibility and 
faithfulness have a major impact on child well-being. We also know that 
marriage is the foundation of responsible fatherhood, and that fathers 
who are married to the mothers of their children are more likely to be 
involved in their children's lives.
  According to the National Fatherhood Initiative:
  The best predictor of father presence is marital status. Compared to 
children born within marriage, children born to cohabiting parents are 
three times as likely to experience father absence, and children born 
to unmarried, non-cohabiting parents are four times as likely to live 
in a father-absent home.
  In a longitudinal study of 2,500 children of divorce, twenty years 
after the divorce less than one-third of boys and one-quarter of girls 
reported having close relationships with their fathers. In contrast, 
seventy percent of youths from the comparison group of intact families 
reported feeling close to their fathers.
  But, we don't need statistics to tell us that committed, involved 
father's are essential to the preservation of the family.
  Yesterday, thousands of families in my district celebrated Father's 
Day. Amid all the distractions of our society, many stopped, for just a 
minute, to honor ``Dad.''
  It seems that politics and social change and the faddish nature of 
our culture have not been able to erase the enduring value of 
fatherhood and the imprint that father's have in my district and across 
this great nation.

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