[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 22, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S9710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CHAFEE:
  S. 1437. A bill to expand the Federal tax refund intercept program to 
cover children who are not minors; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I am pleased to be introducing the Child 
Support Fairness and Tax Refund Interception Act of 2003 today.
  The Child Support Fairness and Tax Refund Interception Act of 2003 
closes a loophole in current Federal statute by expanding the 
eligibility of one of the most effective means of enforcing child 
support orders--that of intercepting the Federal tax refunds of parents 
who are delinquent in paying their court-ordered financial support for 
their children.
  Under current law, eligibility for the Federal tax refund offset 
program is limited to cases involving minors, parents on public 
assistance, or adult children who are disabled. Custodial parents of 
adult, non-disabled children are not assisted under the IRS tax refund 
intercept program, and in many cases, they must work multiple jobs in 
order to make ends meet. Some of these parents have gone into debt to 
put their college-age children through school.
  The legislation I am introducing today will address this inequity by 
expanding the eligibility of the Federal tax refund offset program to 
cover parents of all children, regardless of whether the child is 
disabled or a minor. This legislation will not create a cause of action 
for a custodial parent to seek additional child support. It will merely 
assist the custodial parent in recovering debt that is owed for a level 
of child support that was determined by a court.
  Improving our child support enforcement programs is an issue that 
should be of concern to us all as it remains a serious problem in the 
United States. According to the most recent government statistics, 
there are approximately seventeen million active cases in which a child 
support order requires a noncustodial parent to contribute to the 
support of his or her child. Of the almost $25 billion owed in 2001, 
only $14 billion has been collected. In 1998, only 23 percent of 
children entitled to child support through our public system received 
some form of payment, despite Federal and State efforts. Similar 
shortfalls in previous years bring the combined delinquency total to 
approximately $88 billion. We can fix this injustice in our federal tax 
refund offset program by helping some of our most needy constituents 
receive the financial assistance they are owed.
  While previous Administrations have been somewhat successful in using 
tax refunds as a tool to collect child support payments, more needs to 
be done. The IRS tax refund interception program has only collected 
one-third of tardy child support payments. The Child Support Fairness 
and Tax Refund Interception Act of 2003 will remove the current barrier 
to fulfilling an individual's obligation to pay child support, while 
helping to provide for the future of our nation's children.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important 
legislation, and ask unanimous consent that the text of legislation be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1437

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Child Support Fairness and 
     Tax Refund Interception Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) Enforcing child support orders remains a serious 
     problem in the United States. There are approximately 
     17,100,000 active cases in which a child support order 
     requires a noncustodial parent to contribute to the support 
     of his or her child. Of the $24,700,000,000 owed in 2001 
     pursuant to such orders, $14,200,000,000, or 57 percent, has 
     been collected.
       (2) It is an injustice for the Federal Government to issue 
     tax refunds to a deadbeat spouse while a custodial parent has 
     to work 2 or 3 jobs to compensate for the shortfall in 
     providing for his or her children.
       (3) The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) program to intercept 
     the tax refunds of parents who owe child support arrears has 
     been successful in collecting a tenth of such arrears.
       (4) Congress has periodically expanded eligibility for the 
     IRS tax refund intercept program. Initially, the program was 
     limited to intercepting Federal tax refunds owed to parents 
     on public assistance. In 1984, Congress expanded the program 
     to cover parents not on public assistance. Finally, the 
     Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 made the program 
     permanent and expanded the program to cover parents of adult 
     children who are disabled.
       (5) The injustice to the custodial parent is the same 
     regardless of whether the child is disabled, non-disabled, a 
     minor, or an adult, so long as the child support obligation 
     is provided for by a court or administrative order. It is 
     common for parents to help their adult children finance a 
     college education, a wedding, or a first home. Some parents 
     cannot afford to provide such help because they are 
     recovering from debt incurred to cover expenses that would 
     have been covered if the parent had been paid the child 
     support owed in a timely manner.
       (6) This Act addresses such injustices by expanding the IRS 
     tax refund intercept program to cover parents of all adult 
     children, regardless of whether the child is disabled.
       (7) This Act does not create a cause of action for a 
     custodial parent to seek additional child support. This Act 
     merely helps the custodial parent recover debt owed for a 
     level of child support that was set by a court after both 
     sides had the opportunity to present arguments about the 
     proper amount of child support.

     SEC. 3. USE OF TAX REFUND INTERCEPT PROGRAM TO COLLECT PAST-
                   DUE CHILD SUPPORT ON BEHALF OF CHILDREN WHO ARE 
                   NOT MINORS.

       Section 464 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 664) is 
     amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)(2)(A), by striking ``(as that term is 
     defined for purposes of this paragraph under subsection 
     (c))''; and
       (2) in subsection (c)--
       (A) in paragraph (1)--
       (i) by striking ``(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
     as used in'' and inserting ``In''; and
       (ii) by inserting ``(whether or not a minor)'' after ``a 
     child'' each place it appears; and
       (B) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3).
                                 ______