Herb Kohl: “I am offering the motion on behalf of myself and Senators Snowe, Harkin, Cornyn, Obama, Rockefeller and Kennedy. We are…”

“I am offering the motion on behalf of myself and Senators Snowe, Harkin, Cornyn, Obama, Rockefeller and Kennedy. We are asking conferees to reject the deep cuts that the House made to the child support enforcement program. Perhaps some of my colleagues would like to speak on this matter, and so I will keep my comments brief. I would hope that this would be a simple vote for my colleagues. The Senate needs to send a strong message to conferees that the cuts the House supported are unacceptable. I would like to remind my colleagues what those cuts are, and what they mean. The House slashes funding for the child support enforcement program by 10 percent, which is nearly $16 billion which will be cut in the next 10 years. In addition, the House language prevents States from drawing down Federal funds based on their performance incentive payments. What does that mean for States, and more importantly, what will it mean for hard working American families? According to the Congressional Budget Office, the House cuts will reduce child support collections by nearly $7.9 billion in the next 5 years and $24.1 billion in the next 10 years. My State stands to lose $308 million in Federal funding over the next 10 years, and will lose approximately $468 million in child support collections. Cutting the child support enforcement program is counterproductive. It means cutting one of the most successful, cost-effective Federal programs in existence.…”