[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 3 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Page 196]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
 Statement on Efforts To Promote Responsible Fatherhood

 January 19, 2001

     Over the past 8 years, Vice President Al Gore and I have worked 
hard to promote responsible and engaged fatherhood. On Father's Day 
2000, I asked six agencies to jointly produce Federal guidance that 
would help States and communities strengthen the role of fathers in 
families. Today, I am pleased to announce the release of this guidance, 
entitled ``Meeting the Challenge: What the Federal Government Can Do To 
Support Responsible Fatherhood Efforts,'' which provides valuable 
information about Federal resources and policies.
     This guidance represents a critical step in the ongoing Federal 
efforts to promote responsible fatherhood. Vice President Gore's 1994 
Family Reunion conference on the role of men in families significantly 
raised the visibility of fathers, and in 1995 I issued an Executive 
memorandum calling on Federal agencies to review every program, policy, 
and initiative to ensure that meaningful efforts were being made to 
strengthen fathers' involvement with their children. Since then, many 
agencies throughout the Federal Government have developed fatherhood 
initiatives, and collaboration--among agencies and with private 
partners--has been the cornerstone of these efforts.
     Today, this interagency work is bearing fruit, not only in the form 
of the guidance being released today but also through the many 
innovative projects that are highlighted within the report. For example, 
the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services (HHS) worked 
together on the Fathers Matter initiative, producing a CD-ROM to help 
teachers, early childhood educators, and social service and health 
providers engage fathers in their children's learning. The Departments 
of Labor (DOL) and HHS, with the Departments of Justice (DOJ), 
Education, and Housing and Urban Development, have worked together to 
improve employment and training opportunities for fathers through the 
implementation of the welfare-to-work program, which I fought to fund in 
1997 and extended this year. And through the reentry initiative that I 
proposed and Congress funded in the fiscal year 2001 budget, DOJ, DOL, 
and HHS are working together to address the needs of ex-offenders, many 
of whom are fathers, as they rejoin their families and communities.
     I want to applaud the leadership of HHS on this project and commend 
the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Housing and Urban 
Development, Justice, and Labor for their valuable contributions. I 
encourage States, tribes, communities, and nonprofit organizations to 
use this new resource to explore the exciting possibilities for 
strengthening the role of fathers in the lives of their children.