[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 8, 1995)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 40451-40452]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19783]



      

[[Page 40449]]

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Part V





The President





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Proclamation 6814--National Child Support Awareness Month, 1995
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 152 / Tuesday, August 8, 1995 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 40451]]

                Proclamation 6814 of August 5, 1995

                
National Child Support Awareness Month, 1995

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Providing for our children is one of humanity's 
                worthiest and most fundamental endeavors. Children are 
                the best part of ourselves--the sum of our past and the 
                promise of our future, the guarantee that our lives and 
                values and dreams will flourish long after we are gone. 
                Sadly, however, many parents in our country today deny 
                the instinct to care for their children, failing to 
                provide even the most basic economic support. Millions 
                of America's children have no legally identified 
                father. Millions do not receive the financial support 
                they need to lead secure and healthy lives.

                Because of these harsh realities, I have made the 
                reform of our Nation's child support system one of the 
                top priorities of my Administration. The welfare reform 
                plan that I proposed to the Congress last year contains 
                the toughest child support enforcement measures in 
                America's history--measures that would improve the 
                effectiveness of procedures for establishing paternity, 
                make it easier to enter and update child support 
                awards, and dramatically strengthen our ability to 
                enforce payment of those awards. My proposals would 
                also give us the ability to track deadbeat parents 
                across State lines, suspend their driver's licenses if 
                necessary, and make them work off what they owe.

                As the Nation's largest single employer, the Federal 
                Government must take a leadership role in the effort to 
                ensure that all of America's children are properly 
                supported. In February of this year, I signed an 
                Executive order requiring Federal agencies to cooperate 
                fully with measures to establish and enforce child 
                support orders and to inform employees of how they can 
                meet their support obligations. Additionally, we are 
                encouraging State and local governments to develop 
                innovative approaches to helping families cope with 
                child support issues, and the Department of Health and 
                Human Services (HHS) has begun to restructure and 
                strengthen its partnerships with State child support 
                agencies.

                This month we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 
                Child Support Enforcement Program at HHS. This 
                program--at the Federal, State, and local levels--has 
                been instrumental in giving hope and support to 
                America's children while fostering strong families and 
                responsible parenting. Through their efforts, over 5.1 
                million children now have a legally recognized father; 
                more than 11.7 million children with a parent living 
                outside of their homes have a legal right to the 
                financial support of that parent; and over $72.5 
                billion has been provided for children by their 
                noncustodial parents.

                But for all that we have accomplished, we still have 
                much to do. By ensuring the enactment and 
                implementation of my Administration's strong child 
                support enforcement proposals, we will send a clear 
                signal to our citizens that they should not have 
                children until they are prepared to care for them. 
                Those who do bring children into the world must bear 
                the responsibility of supporting them. We must 
                rededicate ourselves to the task of putting these 
                youngest and most vulnerable of our citizens first.
 
[[Page 40452]]


                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim August 1995, as ``National 
                Child Support Awareness Month.'' I call upon the 
                citizens of the United States to observe this month 
                with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen 
                hundred and ninety-five, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and twentieth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 95-19783
Filed 8-7-95; 12:09 pm]
Billing code 3195-01-P