Committee on Ways & Means
Subcommittee on Human Resources

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2001
Contact: 202-225-8933

WASHINGTON - On June 28, Chairman Wally Herger (R-CA) and the Ways & Means Subcommittee on Human Resources will examine child support enforcement provisions to make sure they are working effectively and seek out ways to improve the current system.

The subcommittee will also review new approaches that could enhance the role of fathers in their children’s lives. Among other proposals, the subcommittee will discuss a bipartisan bill coauthored by Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Rep. Ben Cardin (D-MD), the "Child Support Distribution Act of 2001."

"The child support system is in place to ensure that fathers contribute to their children’s financial well-being, and we want to make sure the system, including changes made by the 1996 welfare reform law, is working," Herger said.

"But when more than 20 million children in the United States live in homes without fathers, our policies should help encourage dads to participate in their child’s emotional well-being too. At Thursday’s hearing, we will consider opportunities to create those incentives."