James Whittier Parker: “I submit that we have failed miserably. The status quo that we are talking about today says that what we want to do is…”

“I submit that we have failed miserably. The status quo that we are talking about today says that what we want to do is continue the same process, the same path we have been walking down, and if we continue to do that, we are going to get the same results. It would seem to me that somewhere along the way we, as a body, should try our best to take the families that we have in this country and strengthen them. It seems to me we should be supportive of families, that we should uplift them, that we should be able in some way to help them in such a way that they can make it through rough times. It seems to me it is a very odd scenario that we, as a body, have made the determination that what we should do is interject lies and deceit in this family relationship. There are those who say, well, there are a lot of families out there that are dysfunctional. That is true. But if we expect the worst of people, that is exactly what we are going to get. I will tell the Members this: This amendment cannot do anything nearly as bad as what we have had happening for the last 35 years.”