[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 31 (Thursday, March 11, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S2720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. Lieberman):
  S. 2194. A bill to amend part D of title IV of the Social Security 
Act to improve the collection of child support, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill that is 
very close to my heart--the Child Support Improvement Act of 2004. I 
want to express my appreciation for the leadership of the Senator from 
Connecticut on these issues, and his willingness to co-sponsor this 
bill.
  In my career, I have had the opportunity to see the significant 
problems facing our child support system from several different 
perspectives.
  As a district judge in Texas, I ruled in divorce and custody cases. I 
saw the powerful emotions involved in these cases, where the best 
interests of children are fought over even as the relationships that 
brought them into this world fall apart.
  And I had to make judgments in a large number of child support cases 
before Texas implemented the system for expediting these cases by 
establishing the masters program.
  As a Supreme Court justice, I had the opportunity to write opinions 
that had a real and positive affect on child support.
  As Attorney General, I saw the positive effects of enforced 
guidelines for child support, visitation, and income withholding. I 
worked to implement Federal mandates. And I saw that we had a deep hole 
to climb out of, a child support system that was in terrible shape.
  My first priority was to improve customer service. I saw that more 
than $16 million in child support payments were collected but 
undistributed due to computer errors, leaving those most in need of 
assistance without their child support payments merely because of 
computer or administrative problems.
  And the vast majority of the people calling the child support offices 
for assistance were automatically disconnected or received a busy 
signal. Only one in every seven phone calls was actually answered--one 
in seven.
  We got to work fast. We focused on both the dead beat and the dead 
broke parents. We fixed the customer service system, establishing eight 
regional call centers and an interactive web site to provide case-
specific information on a secure site for parents to access. We worked 
with community organizations to establish a dozen fatherhood programs. 
We got payments out the door more quickly, and we reduced undistributed 
collections. And I announced a top ten list of ``Texas' Most Wanted 
Child Support Evaders,'' those dead beat parents who willfully evaded 
arrest.
  In the end, we collected more than $3 billion in child support. Some 
folks called it a miracle. I call it a good start.
  I believe that this body has the responsibility to do more to help 
our child support system be more efficient, more responsive, and do 
more to improve the lives of children and families.
  The proposal that I am introducing today, along with the 
distinguished Senator from Connecticut--who has a deep understanding of 
the issue and, like me, served his State as attorney general--features 
several long-needed reforms of our child support provisions.
  It includes new distribution options for states to get more child 
support to families on TANF, and to pay more child support to families 
who were previously on TANF.
  This bill also has several provisions based on my experience as 
Attorney General: 1. It encourages States to do more medical support 
enforcement, by giving states a funding incentive that will ultimately 
reduce our Federal Medicaid and S-CHIP costs. 2. It promotes early 
monitoring of child support orders, cutting red tape so that states 
have greater freedom to innovate and large arrearages never occur. 3. 
It focuses on reducing undistributed collections by directing more 
Federal resources toward finding solutions to this widespread problem. 
4. It gets payments to custodial parents quickly, by urging States to 
use electronic payment methods. 5. And it allows States the option to 
send all non-IV-D child support payments to the State Disbursement 
Unit, reducing expenses, paperwork and confusion for employers and 
accelerating payments to families.
  I believe that all of these reforms are necessary and important 
steps. They will lower costs, increase efficiency, and get children 
more of the help they need.
  Even as we strive to improve our child support system, we cannot 
underestimate the social importance of the family as a component of our 
mission. As author Maggie Gallagher once wrote: ``When men and women 
fail to form stable marriages, the first result is a vast expansion of 
government attempts to cope with the terrible social needs that result. 
There is scarcely a dollar that state and federal government spends on 
social programs that is not driven in large part by family 
fragmentation: crime, poverty, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, school 
failure, and mental and physical health problems.''
  I strongly believe that the family is the fundamental institution of 
our civilization. If fosters successful communities, happier homes, and 
healthier lives.
  The family provides the foundation for raising each new generation of 
Americans. And when families are weakened, children suffer the most. 
Even the best child support system in the world cannot give the caring 
love and nurturing of family--which is why I believe we need to have a 
child support system that genuinely encourages parents to be an active 
part of their child's life.
  We need a child support system that focuses on the dead beat and dead 
broke parents, that brings the worst evaders in, and that puts the 
family first. Let us in this body strive to do everything we can, as we 
hope for a brighter future for this nation and future generations of 
American children.
                                 ______