[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 103 (Thursday, June 18, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2920-S2921]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Father's Day
Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I have come to this floor many times to
be able to talk about a lot of serious policy issues, to be able to
walk through all different kinds of tax policy, energy policy,
immigration policy. We have worked through a lot of different issues on
this floor, and I have had the opportunity to be able to speak on a lot
of issues.
I don't often take time just to be able to pause and talk about a
cultural issue. I want to do that today.
This weekend, the Nation will pause and celebrate Father's Day. Now,
this will be the 116th year of celebrating Father's Day in America; the
54th year since it was officially recognized as an official Federal
holiday.
It is kind of a big deal. Every human being on Earth has a mom and a
dad. You may or may not know them, but it does take two to tango, they
say, and every single person does have a mom and a dad.
There are a lot of dads that are separated, and there is a lot of
disjointedness. What we are watching in culture is culture pushing back
on men, to challenge men to be better dads. I applaud a good thing that
is happening in culture with that.
We are literally seeing the statistics on this. The numbers on it
bear out. Literally in this generation of dads right now, they are
three times more likely to spend more time with their kids than the
dads during the 1960s.
It is an interesting shift that is happening. We have fewer dads out
there, but the dads that are there in America are looking at their kids
and saying: I want to spend more time with them.
Good. We need more engaged dads. Quite frankly, being a dad is a
courageous job and a challenging job but exceptionally important. And
it is not just being a breadwinner, it is not just being a
disciplinarian, it is just being there for their child.
I first want to say happy Father's Day to my own dad, but I also want
to be able to challenge all dads that are out there to turn to your
kids and to rededicate again, not just this weekend, but to rededicate
again to actually spending more time with your kids because healthy
families are the most basic building block of culture.
I have said it to people over and over again: Healthy families make
healthy communities, make a healthy nation.
And when I hear people complain about the status of where we are as a
nation, I have to tell you, the first place that I look are dads and to
say how are dads doing because dads will define a tremendous amount of
the strength of our Nation and the strength of our culture.
If dads back away from their families, families get weaker,
communities get weaker, the Nation gets weaker.
If dads are engaged with their kids and with their families, the
Nation gets stronger, communities get stronger.
Now, it is not just me speaking on this; I mean, you can go to any
statistic that you want to be able to go to. The research out there for
youth and adult offenders, between--depending on a State and a place--
between 70 percent and 85 percent of incarcerated individuals do not
have a dad in their life. They came from fatherless homes.
Around 85 percent of the abortions that happen in our country, year
to year, happen with a single mom when no dad is around and no man is
around--85 percent. That is a woman who is making an incredibly
difficult decision to take the life of the child, often because she is
afraid she will not have the resources or the support to be able to
support this child, and so she makes this decision to take the life of
a child instead.
I have a friend of mine that often says behind every abortion is an
irresponsible man. Dads, dads are important.
Now, it is not something we can legislate, though I would tell you
there are initiatives that are out there. Right now there is
fatherhood.gov if people want to go to that site that encourages ideas
for dads. It is not just up for Father's Day, it is up all the time.
And people can go to fatherhood.org. Right now, the Ad Council is
running an ad campaign across the entire country that just is called
``Be a Good Dad Today.''
That is cultural encouragement on these things. But there are also
things that we are working on as well: marriage penalty, for instance,
in our tax law. If there are areas of our tax law that actually give
you greater benefit not being married than married, those things need
to be fixed. And there are several of those.
The Brookings Institute for years has asked the most basic question:
How does someone rise out of poverty? If someone is born in poverty,
how do they rise out of poverty? For years, they have done this study,
and the same three things rise up over and over again every time they
do this study: if you graduate high school, if you have a job of any
type, and if you wait until after marriage to have children. If those
three things are true, 97 percent chance you rise out of poverty.
That is someone making good decisions, and it allows the next
generation to also be successful as well. That is just good tax policy
to be able to incentivize ways that we can keep families together and
to encourage families in that way.
The Trump administration has also made some changes to be able to
encourage more dads to make alimony payments; if there is a divorce
that happens and a child is there, for the dad to make sure he is
providing alimony.
It is incredibly important to that woman, that mom, that is raising
those kids to still have the financial support and for that dad to
still show his financial support, I hope, as well as his love and
encouragement to those kids. The Trump administration is now saying if
a dad is not paying child support, they can't get a passport, and if a
dad is not paying child support, they can have their tax refund, if
they are getting that, withheld. Good for them to be able to encourage
that man to be able to be responsible as well.
But, ultimately, you can't legislate being a good dad. That is a
decision that a man makes. Now, I would tell you, I have talked to men,
and they have said: Hey, I didn't have a man in my life and so it is
tough to be able to learn how to do that.
I have talked to plenty of folks in churches and in communities and
friends and neighbors that are just encouraging other dads to be able
to be a better dad. It is a good gift to the next generation to be able
to do that.
I will tell you this, pure and simple: Every child needs a mom. Every
child needs a dad. There is no substitute. Many people in this body
know I am a former youth pastor, and I would have parents that came up
to me all the time and say: You are such an influence on my child for
teaching and role modeling. And I would say that is very kind, but
there is no influence that is a bigger influence on a child than their
mom and dad. The path of their life will be set by their mom or dad.
So dads should not think it is somebody else's responsibility; it is
theirs. If the next generation is going to be patriotic, if the next
generation is going to love God, if the next generation is going to
make good decisions, if the next generation is going to have a hard
work ethic, if the next generation is going to learn to be kind, if the
next generation is going to stand up for what is right, it is going to
be because a dad invested that into that child's life.
[[Page S2921]]
So if you want to see the Nation stronger, dads engage. That is what
is going to make the Nation stronger. Every child needs a guide, a role
model. They need to see the courage and kindness and strength of a dad.
They need more than just dad jokes. They need a dad present. That is
what makes the biggest difference.
Could I just say from my own context, the Scripture is full of
conversations challenging dads to love their children, and, quite
frankly, children to honor their parents. Let me just give you a couple
of them.
In Malachi 4:6.
It says: The role of the Prophet Elijah was to turn the heart of the
fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their
fathers lest there be a curse on the land.
What a clear statement: to turn the hearts of the fathers back to
their children and the children to their father; if not, there is a
curse on the land.
And how about this one? Just a simple challenge from Paul, who,
interestingly enough, was not a dad but was somebody that understood
the importance there. Paul in Ephesians 6:4. It says: Fathers don't
exasperate your children. Don't just push them, push them, push them.
But instead he said: Bring them up in the training and the admonition
of the Lord.
It is a very clear statement to dads to say don't just yell at your
kids; train them on how to be able to love God and love people, train
them up in the right way because if you want a church and community and
a family to be better, dads need to be engaged with their kids.
So happy Father's Day to my dad, happy Father's Day to all the dads
that are out there. And if I can make just the most simple cultural
challenge, if we really want a stronger nation, there is no vote that
we will take in this body today that will make the Nation stronger than
just dads loving their kids and spending time with them and helping
them know how to be able to walk with God and live a patriotic life and
serve their family and community. There is no vote we will take that
will help our Nation more than that.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.