H. Res. 442
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
June 12, 2002.
Whereas 40 percent of children who live in fatherless house-
holds in the United States have not seen their fathers in
at least 1 year, and 50 percent of such children have
never visited their fathers’ homes;
Whereas approximately 50 percent of all children born in the
United States spend at least half of their childhood in
families without father figures;
Whereas 3 out of 4 adolescents in the United States report
that they do not have adults in their lives that serve as
positive role models;
Whereas children who are apart from their biological fathers
are, in comparison to other children, 5 times more likely
to live in poverty, and more likely to bring weapons and
drugs into the classroom, commit other crimes, drop out
of school, commit suicide, abuse alcohol or drugs, and be-
come pregnant as teenagers;
Whereas the Federal Government spends billions of dollars to
address these social ills and very little to promote respon-
sible fatherhood;
Whereas the promotion of responsible fatherhood should
not—
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(1) denigrate the standing or parenting efforts of
single mothers, whose efforts are heroic;
(2) lessen the protection of children from abusive
parents;
(3) cause women to remain in, or enter into, abusive
relationships; or
(4) compromise the health or safety of a custodial
parent;
Whereas children with fathers at home tend to do better in
school, to be less prone to depression, and to have more
successful relationships;
Whereas boys and girls alike demonstrate greater self-control
and ability to take initiative when fathers are actively in-
volved in their upbringing;
Whereas promoting responsible fatherhood can help increase
the chances that children will grow up with two caring
parents;
Whereas a broad array of America’s leading family and child-
development experts agree that it is in the best interests
of children, and the Nation as a whole, to encourage
more two-parent, father-involved families;
Whereas in a study of fathers’ interaction with their children
in intact two-parent families, nearly 90 percent of the fa-
thers surveyed said that being a father is the most ful-
filling role a man can have;
Whereas according to a 1996 Gallup poll, 90.3 percent of
Americans agree that fathers make a unique contribution
to their children’s lives;
Whereas married fathers are more likely to have a close, en-
during relationship with their children than unmarried
fathers;
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Whereas the promotion of responsible fatherhood is a bipar-
tisan issue; and
Whereas Father’s Day is the third Sunday in June: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) urges men to understand the level of responsi-
bility fathering a child requires, especially in the encour-
agement of the academic, moral, and spiritual develop-
ment of children;
(2) recognizes the need to encourage active involve-
ment of fathers in the rearing and development of their
children;
(3) encourages each father to devote time, energy,
and resources to his children, recognizing that children
need not only material support, but even more impor-
tantly, a secure and nurturing family environment;
(4) commends the millions of fathers who serve as
wonderful, caring parents for their children, while also
recognizing that there are children who will have no one
with whom to celebrate on Father’s Day;
(5) urges mothers to encourage fathers to play an
active role in child-rearing;
(6) calls on fathers across the Nation to use Fa-
ther’s Day to reconnect and rededicate themselves to
their children’s lives, to spend Father’s Day with their
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children, and to express their love and support for their
children; and
(7) urges American institutions, and government
entities at every level, to promote public policies that en-
courage and support the efforts of, and remove barriers
to, responsible fatherhood.
Attest:
Clerk.