[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 85 (Friday, June 18, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1157]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SUPPORTING RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD AND ENCOURAGING GREATER INVOLVEMENT 
               OF FATHERS IN THE LIVES OF THEIR CHILDREN

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. TODD TIAHRT

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 14, 2004

  Mr. TIAHRT. Madam Speaker, in the week following the celebration of 
President Reagan's life and the mourning of his death, I am reminded of 
the impact his legacy has left on our country and on my job as a Member 
of the United States House of Representatives. It also makes me think 
about my role as a father and the legacy I will leave for my family. 
What will my children say about me when I die? Will I have left a 
legacy to them worthy of praise and fond memories and strong self-
confidence? Will they be better parents themselves because of the 
father I was to them? This is the legacy that will matter the most--the 
one I leave my children and future grandchildren.
  The National Center for Fathering is based in Shawnee Mission, 
Kansas, and I am proud of the efforts of Founder and President Dr. Ken 
Canfield and his vision to equip and support fathers across the 
country. Thirty-nine percent of all children live in a home without 
their father. That's 27 million children without a stable male role 
model in their home. According to Focus on the Family, ``Children with 
married parents consistently do better in every measure of well-being 
than their peers who have single, cohabiting, divorced or step-parents, 
and this is a stronger indicator than parental race, economic or 
educational status, or neighborhood. The literature on this is broad 
and strong.''
  The liberal Center for Law and Social Policy, a child advocacy 
organization, and Child Trends agree that ``children do best when 
raised by their two married biological parents. Young men without 
married parents are 1.5 times more likely than those with married 
parents to be out of school and out of work. Young girls without 
married parents are twice as likely to be idle. A major study published 
in the Journal of Marriage and the Family found that boys and girls who 
lived with both biological parents had the lowest risk of becoming 
sexually active. Teens living with only one biological parent, 
including those in stepfamilies, were particularly at risk for becoming 
sexually active at younger ages.
  White and black girls growing up in single-parent homes are 111 
percent more likely to bear children as teenagers, 164 percent more 
likely to have a child out of marriage, and--if they do marry--their 
marriages are 92 percent more likely to dissolve compared to their 
counterparts with married parents. Where are the fathers? Single 
mothers have the hardest job in America, and it is past due time when 
fathers need to take responsibility and be a father to their children.
  We celebrate Father's Day June 20th and I applaud my father-in-law 
and my father for the legacy they left my wife and me. I pray that my 
legacy to my children will be strong, loving, and proud. May God 
continue to bless America.

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