Thomas Mott Osborne: “Mr. Speaker, as we approach the upcoming celebration of Father's Day this Sunday, June 16, I am pleased to have this…”

“Mr. Speaker, as we approach the upcoming celebration of Father's Day this Sunday, June 16, I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak on behalf of this resolution before us on the importance of fatherhood in this country. H.R. 442, introduced by the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Sullivan), urges all Americans to support responsible fatherhood and to encourage greater involvement of fathers in the lives of their children, especially on Father's Day. Over 36 years in my last profession, I worked with a great many young men who were fatherless. I saw directly the results of that fatherlessness, because if your dad does not care enough to stick around sometimes, even to see what you look like, there is a void in your life and sometimes you try to fill that void with all the wrong things. The number of children living in households without fathers has tripled over the last 40 years from just over 5 million in 1960 to almost 18 million today, which represents an increase of 350 percent. According to the National Fatherhood Initiative, 24 million children live without their biological fathers at the present time. Nearly one-half of our children will live at least part of their childhood without a father.”