IV
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 526
Encouraging and promoting greater involvement of fathers in their children’s
lives and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding
a National Responsible Father’s Day.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 14, 2000
Mr. CARSON submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
RESOLUTION
Encouraging and promoting greater involvement of fathers
in their children’s lives and expressing the sense of the
House of Representatives regarding a National Respon-
sible Father’s Day.
Whereas 40 percent of children who live in households with-
out a father have not seen their father in at least one
year and 50 percent of such children have never visited
their father’s home;
Whereas approximately 50 percent of all children born in the
United States spend at least half of their childhood in a
family without a father figure;
Whereas nearly 20 percent of children in grades 6 through
12 report that they have not had a meaningful conversa-
tion with even one parent in over a month;
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Whereas 3 out of 4 adolescents report that ‘‘they do not have
adults in their lives that model positive behaviors’’;
Whereas many of the United States leading experts on family
and child development agree that it is in the best inter-
ests both of children and of the United States to encour-
age more two-parent, father-involved families to form and
endure;
Whereas it is important to promote responsible fatherhood
and encourage loving and healthy relationships between
parents and their children in order to increase the chance
that children will have two caring parents to help them
grow up healthy and secure and not in order to—
(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 who are apart from their biological father
are, in comparison to other children—
(1) five times more likely to live in poverty; and
(2) more likely to—
(A) bring weapons and drugs into the class-
room;
(B) commit crime;
(C) drop out of school;
(D) be abused;
(E) commit suicide;
(F) abuse alcohol or drugs; and
(G) become pregnant as teenagers;
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Whereas the Federal Government spends billions of dollars to
address these social ills and very little to address the
causes of such social ills;
Whereas violent criminals are overwhelmingly males who grew
up without fathers;
Whereas the number of children living with only a mother in-
creased from just over 5 million in 1960 to 17 million in
1999, and between 1981 and 1991, the percentage of
children living with only one parent increased from 19
percent to 25 percent;
Whereas between 20 percent and 30 percent of families in
poverty are headed by women who have suffered domestic
violence during the past year and between 40 percent and
60 percent of women with children who receive welfare
were abused at some time in their lives;
Whereas millions of single mothers in the United States are
heroically struggling to raise their children in safe, loving
environments;
Whereas responsible fatherhood should always recognize and
promote values of nonviolence;
Whereas child support is an important means by which a par-
ent can take financial responsibility for a child and emo-
tional support is an important means by which a parent
can take social responsibility for a child;
Whereas because children learn by example, community pro-
grams that help mold young men into positive role mod-
els for their children need to be encouraged;
Whereas promoting responsible fatherhood is not meant to di-
minish the parenting efforts of single mothers but rather
to increase the likelihood that children will have two car-
ing parents to help them grow up in loving environments;
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Whereas Congress has begun to take notice of this issue with
legislation introduced in both the House of Representa-
tives and the Senate to address the epidemic of
fatherlessness; and
Whereas Sunday, June 18, 2000, is Father’s Day: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That—
(1) the House of Representatives—
(A) recognizes the need to encourage active
involvement of fathers in the rearing and devel-
opment of their children;
(B) recognizes that while there are millions
of fathers who serve as a wonderful caring par-
ent for their children, there are children on Fa-
ther’s Day who will have no one to celebrate
with;
(C) urges fathers to participate in their
children’s lives both financially and emotionally;
(D) encourages fathers to devote time, en-
ergy, and resources to their children;
(E) urges fathers to understand the level
of responsibility required when fathering a child
and to fulfill that responsibility; and
(F) is committed to assist absent fathers
become more responsible and engaged in their
children’s lives; and
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(2) it is the sense of the House of Representa-
tives that—
(A) a National Responsible Father’s Day
should be established to encourage fathers
around the country to reconnect and rededicate
themselves to their children’s lives, to spend
time with their children, and to express their
love and support for their children; and
(B) the President should issue a proclama-
tion calling upon the people of the United
States to observe such a day with appropriate
ceremonies and activities.
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