[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6616-6617]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    CHILD SUPPORT COLLECTION REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, it is tax day in America. On April 15 each 
year, each of us has dutifully fulfilled our duty. We have filled out 
forms, written checks, and stood or are standing in long lines at the 
post office. We do this because it is our obligation and because it is 
the law.
  Well, many parents have another obligation under the law, and that is 
to pay support for their children. But four out of five noncustodial 
parents simply do not pay, and they are getting away scot-free.
  Mr. Speaker, such irresponsibility not only hurts their own children 
but drains the Federal budget and causes the deficit that we fill with 
our tax dollars, a deficit that increases with increased demand on 
welfare and other Federal programs that our children need for those of 
us living up to our responsibilities.
  This is simply unfair. And most of all, it is unfair and outright 
cruel for the children involved. When a parent fails to pay child 
support, children hear a clear message. The message is that they do not 
matter.

[[Page 6617]]

  The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and I believe that it is time 
to show these children that they do matter, it is time for us as a 
Nation to care as much about our children as we do about the IRS. That 
is why today we unveiled legislation to put the Federal Government in 
charge of collecting child support.
  As many people know, I have a very special interest in reforming 
child support collection. I know firsthand about the difficulty of not 
receiving child support because 30 years ago I was left to fend for my 
three children, 1, 3, and 5 years old, when their father did not pay 1 
cent of child support.

                              {time}  1630

  With no means to collect child support, even though I was employed, I 
went on welfare to make ends meet. Had we received the child support 
that was due us, we would not have been on welfare.
  The legislation that the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and I are 
introducing today, the Compassion for Children and Child Support 
Enforcement Act, makes paying child support as important as paying 
taxes, and it makes sure that deadbeat parents know it. Simply put, our 
bill will federalize child support collection and disbursement. Court-
ordered support payments would simply be withheld from an employee's 
pay, just like other payroll deductions. It is easy, it is efficient, 
and it will work better than the fragmented State-by-State system now 
in place. After billions of dollars of Federal assistance, States still 
collect only 22 percent of what children are owed.
  Now, to be fair, that is an increase, because 2 years ago child 
support collection rates were only 20 percent. But if we wait for 
collection to go up 2 percent each year, custodial parents will be 
collecting Social Security before they collect child support. Our kids 
cannot afford to wait that long.
  In my home State of California, our children will have an even longer 
wait under the current system. California is one of nine States without 
a State-wide tracking system up and running. California has wasted $200 
million to build a system which has never gotten off the ground. 
Without a system in place, our State could face $400 million in fines 
by the year 2002 for failing to meet Federal deadlines.
  This failure is a shame. It is a disaster for California's children. 
But beyond that, it demonstrates the most fundamental flaw in the 
current system. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. One 
county, one State not quite up to par, and a deadbeat parent has an 
instant safe haven to avoid child support collection.
  With our legislation, deadbeat parents will have nowhere to hide. 
Cross a county line or a State border, and we still have a hold on the 
paycheck. I know it will surprise our fellow citizens who are standing 
in line at the post office to send their tax returns in as we speak, 
but the IRS has an 84 percent success rate. We can and must harness 
that success for our children.

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