IV
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 417
Regarding the importance of fathers in the raising and development of their
children.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 30, 1998
Mr. PITTS (for himself, Mr. TURNER, Mr. ROGAN, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. GING-
RICH, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. DELAY, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. GEPHARDT, and Mr.
BONIOR) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
RESOLUTION
Regarding the importance of fathers in the raising and
development of their children.
Whereas studies reveal that even in high-crime, inner-city
neighborhoods, well over 90 percent of children from safe,
stable, two-parent homes do not become delinquents;
Whereas researchers have linked father presence with im-
proved fetal and infant development, and father-child
interaction has been shown to promote a child’s physical
well-being, perceptual abilities, and competency for relat-
edness with other persons, even at a young age;
Whereas premature infants whose fathers spend ample time
playing with them have better cognitive outcomes, and
children who have higher than average self-esteem and
•HRES 417 IH
lower than average depression report having a close rela-
tionship with their father;
Whereas both boys and girls demonstrate a greater ability to
take initiative and evidence self-control when they are
raised with fathers who are actively involved in their up-
bringing;
Whereas, although mothers often work tremendously hard to
raise their children in a nurturing environment, a mother
can benefit from the positive support of the father of her
children;
Whereas, according to a 1996 Gallup Poll, 79.1 percent of
Americans believe the most significant family or social
problem facing America is the physical absence of the fa-
ther from the home and the resulting lack of involvement
of fathers in the raising and development of their chil-
dren;
Whereas, according to the Bureau of the Census, in 1994,
19,500,000 children in the United States (nearly one-
fourth of all children in the United States) lived in fami-
lies in which the father was absent;
Whereas, according to a 1996 Gallup Poll, 90.9 percent of
Americans believe ‘‘it is important for children to live in
a home with both their mother and their father’’;
Whereas it is estimated that half of all United States children
born today will spend at least half their childhood in a
family in which a father figure is absent;
Whereas estimates of the likelihood that marriages will end
in divorce range from 40 percent to 50 percent, and ap-
proximately three out of every five divorcing couples have
at least one child;
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Whereas almost half of all 11- through 16-year-old children
who live in mother-headed homes have not seen their fa-
ther in the last twelve months;
Whereas the likelihood that a young male will engage in
criminal activity doubles if he is raised without a father
and triples if he lives in a neighborhood with a high con-
centration of single-parent families;
Whereas children of single-parents are less likely to complete
high school and more likely to have low earnings and low
employment stability as adults than children raised in
two-parent families;
Whereas a 1990 Los Angeles Times poll found that 57 per-
cent of all fathers and 55 percent of all mothers feel
guilty about not spending enough time with their chil-
dren;
Whereas almost 20 percent of 6th through 12th graders re-
port that they have not had a good conversation lasting
for at least 10 minutes with at least one of their parents
in more than a month;
Whereas, according to a Gallup poll, over 50 percent of all
adults agreed that fathers today spend less time with
their children than their fathers spent with them;
Whereas President Clinton has stated that ‘‘the single biggest
social problem in our society may be the growing absence
of fathers from their children’s homes because it contrib-
utes to so many other social problems’’ and that ‘‘the real
source of the [welfare] problem is the inordinate number
of out of wedlock births in this country’’;
Whereas the Congressional Task Force on Fatherhood Pro-
motion and the Senate Task Force on Fatherhood Pro-
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motion were both formed in 1997, and the Governors Fa-
therhood Task Force was formed in February 1998;
Whereas the Congressional Task Force on Fatherhood Pro-
motion is exploring the social changes that are required
to ensure that every child is raised with a father who is
committed to be actively involved in the raising and de-
velopment of his children;
Whereas the 36 members of the Congressional Task Force on
Fatherhood Promotion are promoting fatherhood in their
congressional districts;
Whereas the National Fatherhood Initiative is holding a Na-
tional Summit on Fatherhood in Washington, D.C., on
June 15, 1998, with the purpose of mobilizing a response
to father absence in several of the most powerful sectors
of society, including public policy, public and private so-
cial services, education, religion, entertainment, the
media, and the civic community;
Whereas both Republican and Democrat leaders of the House
of Representatives and the Senate will be participating in
this event; and
Whereas the promotion of fatherhood is a bipartisan issue:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) recognizes that the creation of a better
America depends in large part on the active involve-
ment of fathers in the raising and development of
their children;
(2) urges each father in America to accept his
full share of responsibility for the lives of his chil-
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dren, to be actively involved in raising his children,
and to encourage the academic, moral, and spiritual
development of his children;
(3) encourages each father to devote time, en-
ergy, and resources to his children, recognizing that
children need not only material support, but more
importantly a secure, affectionate, family environ-
ment; and
(4) expresses its support for a national summit
on fatherhood.
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