[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 16211-16212]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       APA SAYS PRESENCE OF FATHERS IN FAMILIES IS NOT ESSENTIAL

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the APA has done it again. An article 
published in the current journal of the American Psychology Association 
reports that the presence of fathers in families is ``not essential'' 
and that fathers actually ``may be detrimental to the child and the 
mother.''

[[Page 16212]]

  Can you believe this absurdity? Dads are dangerous. So I say to dads, 
do not bother about running home to play ball or read with your child. 
According to these psychologists, you will not be missed.
  This report is on the heels of the national outrage the APA caused 
when they published another report stating sexual abuse does not harm 
children. First, praising pedophilia, now dumbing down dads.
  Mr. Speaker, two decades of research support the fact that children 
who are raised without fathers are at greater risk than children raised 
with fathers and mothers. In fact, studies of over 25,000 children 
found that kids who grow up without a father are twice as likely to 
drop out of school, they are two and a half times as likely to become 
teen moms, and also the likelihood that a young male will engage in 
criminal activity doubles.
  These studies and hundreds of others uphold that dads do make a 
difference. When will the APA ever learn?

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