Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that welfare programs discourage marriage and hurt the institution of the family in the United States.
Policy area: Families

Summary:
Recognizes that welfare programs discourage marriage and hurt the institution of the family.
Expresses the belief that the federal government should treat everyone equally and that it is wrong to discriminate against parents who choose to get married before having children.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 399 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 institution of the family in 
                           the United States.

Whereas the Federal Government funds 126 separate programs that have a stated 
        purpose of fighting poverty, 72 of which provide either cash or in-kind 
        benefits to recipients, 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 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families 
        determine eligibility and allotment of benefits by counting individuals 
        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 Assistance 
        Program determine eligibility and allocation of benefits 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 couple'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 
        contribution, 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 programs, should a single 
        parent of two choose to get married, can result in a decrease of 
        approximately $30,000 a year;
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 program 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 married 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 unmarried peers; and
            (4) supports action to change benefits or end programs in 
        order to eliminate these penalties.
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