IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 399 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that welfare programs 
discourage marriage and hurt the institution of the family in the United 
States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 21, 2017 
Mr. GROTHMAN (for himself, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. LAMALFA, 
Mr. ROUZER, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. KING of 
Iowa, Mr. BABIN, Mr. GOSAR, and Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ways 
and Means 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
welfare programs discourage marriage and hurt the insti-
tution of the family in the United States. 
Whereas the Federal Government funds 126 separate pro-
grams that have a stated purpose of fighting poverty, 72 
of which provide either cash or in-kind benefits to recipi-
ents, 17 of which are food-aid programs, and over 20 of 
which are housing programs; 
Whereas means-tested programs such as child-care vouchers, 
section 8 housing choice vouchers, Medicaid, and Tem-
porary Assistance for Needy Families determine eligi-
bility and allotment of benefits by counting individuals 
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•HRES 399 IH 
related by blood, marriage, or adoption as members of 
the family unit, thereby excluding non-parent cohabiters’ 
income from consideration and discouraging cohabiters 
from marrying for fear of a loss of benefits; 
Whereas means-tested programs such as the Supplemental 
Nutrition Assistance Program, the Special Supplemental 
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, 
school meals, and the Low Income Home Energy Assist-
ance Program determine eligibility and allocation of bene-
fits by counting all members living within a household, 
which discourages single parents from raising children in 
a two-parent home; 
Whereas tax credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit 
also penalize marriage, as one member of an unmarried 
couple can receive the full benefit when claiming the cou-
ple’s child, but a married couple with the same income 
may be pushed out of the eligibility range for the full 
benefit; 
Whereas Pell Grant and Federal student loan eligibility and 
allocation is determined through the information reported 
on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid 
(FAFSA), including the individual’s expected family con-
tribution, which discourages marriage for fear that the 
combined income of a married couple would result in a 
smaller financial aid award; 
Whereas the combined penalty associated with all these pro-
grams, should a single parent of two choose to get mar-
ried, can result in a decrease of approximately $30,000 
a year; 
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•HRES 399 IH 
Whereas the War on Poverty has promoted this decline in 
marriage by penalizing low-income parents who choose to 
marry by reducing their means-tested benefits; 
Whereas before the start of the failed War on Poverty pro-
gram in 1964, only seven percent of children in the 
United States were born out of wedlock, a number that 
now stands at over 40 percent; and 
Whereas removing one parent, usually the male, from his or 
her child can have a harmful effect on the child’s life: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes that welfare programs discourage 
marriage and hurt the institution of the family in 
the United States; 
(2) believes that the Federal Government 
should treat everyone equally and that it is wrong to 
discriminate against parents who choose to get mar-
ried before having children; 
(3) supports action to review any Government 
program, tax credit, or policy that puts financial 
penalties on married couples as opposed to their un-
married peers; and 
(4) supports action to change benefits or end 
programs in order to eliminate these penalties. 
Æ 
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