Rich Neal: “Today is day 29 of the Contract With America. We have passed the quarter mark for the first 100 days. Until day 27, we…”

“Today is day 29 of the Contract With America. We have passed the quarter mark for the first 100 days. Until day 27, we heard nothing about child support being included in the contract. Why was child support not included in the contract? How could such an important issue be ignored? I have carefully reviewed the Personal Responsibility Act and it includes no child support provisions. On day 27, we heard that the Republicans will include child support enforcement provisions in the Personal Responsibility Act. We had to wait until day 27. Where were the child support provisions? It is day 29 of the Contract With America. It is time for us to start talking about the details of child support enforcement. This will send the American people the message that we are serious about welfare reform. A tough child support system requires both parents to live up to their responsibilities. How could we have welfare reform without child support enforcement provision? Child support is welfare prevention. For every $1 spent on administrative expenses, $4 is collected in child support. Paying child support is also the ultimate measure of personal responsibility. The potential for child support collection is estimated at $48 billion per year. Only $14 billion is actually paid. This leaves an estimated collection gap of about $34 billion. This gap needs to be closed. Yet it was not until day 27 that the Republicans decided to address the issue of closing this $34 billion gap.”