Who Submitted Statements re H.R. 2979 Fatherhood Funding?

(Continuing on the Julia Carson Responsible Fatherhood Funding, from testimony at the HOUSE.GOV site. (searching “Julia Carson”)

WHO ELSE GOT THEIR COMMENTS IN, THEN?

The FOLLOWING individuals, some on behalf of their organizations, made “statements of record” between the time of the June 17, 2010 hearing and the cutoff for submitting statements on-line, which I believe was July 1, 2010.

• American Humane Association
• Illinois Council on Responsible Fatherhood
• PAIRS Foundation
• American Mothers Political Party
• AngelFury.org
• Anita Barnes
• Dr. Alan Hawkins, Brigham Young University
• California Healthy Marriages Coalition 1 (“CHMC” for this post)
• California Healthy Marriages Coalition 2
• Center for Family Policy & Practice (Search — I have posted before).
• Center for Urban Families
• Child Find of America Inc.
• Community Endeavors Foundation
• COPES, Inc.
• Families in Crisis, Inc.
• Fatherhood and Marriage Leadership Institute
• Gail Lakritz
• Goodwill – Easter Seals Minnesota
• Greg Eckenrode
• Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Health Policy Institute
• Linder Battershall
• Male Empowerment Network Inc.
• Mariz Zwiefka
• Mothers of Lost Children – Indianapolis
• National Fatherhood Initiative
• National African American Drug Policy Coalition I
• National Alliance for Family Court Justice
• National Center for Fathering
• Nurturing Father’s Program
• Nurturing Father’s Program, Study 1
• Ohio Practitioners Network for Fathers and Families
• Dr. Philip Cowan, Supporting Father Involvement Project
• Randi James
• Relationship Research Foundation, Inc.
• Renovando Familias
• Rights for Mothers Group
• Ruth Whipple
• Sacramento Healthy Marriages Project
• Technical College System of Georgia-Fatherhood Program
• Teen-Aid, Inc.
• Texas Coalition for Healthy Families
• Dr. Jennifer Baker, The School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute
• VA EQUAL Parents
• VOW Family Champions
• Warren County Center for the Family
• YouandMe.We
• ICF International
• Northwest Family Services
• The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
• Patty Howell, California Healthy Marriages Coalition

It should be immediately obvious that some of them have a vested interest in continuing their own programs. We all have a “vested interest” in knowing more than anecdotal evidence whether its purpose (reducing welfare, helping kids) was accomplished

CHMC is one of the largest, I already blogged them.

https://familycourtmatters.wordpress.com/?s=California+Healthy+Marriages+Coalition

Any of these can be blogged, and their statements read (My electronics won’t, for some reason…

REP. DANNY K. DAVIS’ STATEMENT:

Here’s the statement from the Committee on Ways and Means’ Blog, from Danny K. Davis, sponsoring it (I gather):

Rep. Danny Davis Discusses Responsible Fatherhood Programs
June 17, 2010 12:47 PM |

-by Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL)

There is broad agreement that fathers matter in the upbringing of children. Studies show that children raised in the absence of a father are more likely to live in poverty. Children whose fathers interact with them on a regular basis in such daily activities as helping with homework, enjoying recreational opportunities and sharing meals have higher self-esteem and are better learners.

{{cites, please? Who funded the studies {{see earlier posts…}}? Are mothers simply incompetent? This is now the common rhetoric breathed in these economically cloistered circles.}}

Children raised in the absence of a father are more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as early sexual activity, as well as drug and alcohol abuse.

Statistics demonstrate that boys raised in fatherless homes are more likely to become violent. Fathers’ positive involvement in their children’s lives and men’s positive involvement in their communities are irreplaceable contributions to the strength of our nation.

No one argues that there is any one model of family structure

Since 1996, actually that argument has been made, and millions of $$ poured into it. Probably the committee already knows this. I figure this is a pro forma statement.

but the elimination of government barriers to healthy relationships and healthy marriages,

The Government taketh away (taxes), the government giveth back (welfare to single mothers who left violent relationships, or didn’t marry, or couldn’t eke out a living in this culture while also getting their kids educated); oops the government didn’t realize this policy of going after child support might [piss off or alienate or further impoverish] the fathers, so without admitting its oversight aloud, the government giveth back in the form of matchmaking services and relationship counseling, using our money, of course ??

Blessed be the name of the Government.

Am I the only one who thinks this isn’t really funny ? What is this, thought-conditioning?

the promotion of cooperative parenting skills and the fostering of economic stability and the provision of incentives to non-custodial parents to fulfill financial and emotional support responsibilities are clearly in the interests of millions of children.

(By THE WAY, “noncustodial parents” in effect means fathers. adding the word “parent” in there is a deliberate distraction. Custody itself is an interesting term, and comes from the realm of jail…)

(The Government, having gotten so inbetween employer and employee, between parents and children (Dept. of Educ.), and between husband and wife, or father and mother, has so demotivated MOST of us to act intelligently or sometimes even THINK without prior permission from the Government, now is seeking to drum up some activity (legal) and replace [previously reduced by the government] INCENTIVES for — one half the parent population, only, the father side. This is being done for the good of “our” children.” )

AND SO THE PENDULUM SWINGS: MOM / DAD / MOM / DAD,

fotosearch.com

SETTING THE TEMPO:

critical-gaming.squarespace.com…

Or it could also be called:

“PROGRESSIVE / CONSERVATIVE / PROGRESSIVE / CONSERVATIVE”

or:

“FATHERHOOD / FEMINISTS / FATHERHOOD / FEMINISTS.”

MY POINT IS, SO STOP SWINGING TO THAT TUNE AND LOOK UP AT WHO’S CALLING OUT THE COUNTS AND NAMING THE ISSUES. and Men, who are good at segmenting the issues (supposedly), and separating consciousness into different parts, need to consult with women (and progressives with conservatives, etc.) when it comes to noticing that the level of open, sensible, LOGI AL debate has gone through the basement while the debt has gone through the ceiling.

Soon, it may not matter who was right, if there’s more social scientists than farmers, and some other country calls in the debt and we are no longer the breadbasket to the world…. However, men (and Congress IS still mainly men) need to listen when MOM — that mythical being whose archetype doesn’t even make it, almost, onto the white house’s ISSUES page by name, says . . . .

. . . Boys, the clock is ticking on this kind of thinking, kind of like the national debt. See (2006 date) stuffworks/money.”:

Public Debt

and the Economy

STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images
The National Debt Clock at 1133 Avenue of the Americas and 44th Street, March 26, 2006, in Manhattan.

The public debt is the same as the national debt and the deficit. All of these terms calculate the difference between the amount of money the government takes in each year in taxes and investments and the amount the government spends. The United States public debt is currently well over $9 trillion. (You can look up the exact public debt at the ­U.S. Bureau of Public Debt­.) In 2006, the interest alone on the national debt cost U.S. taxpayers $405 billion

.

Who Owns the National Debt?

The top foreign purchasers of U.S. debt are:

1. Japan
2. China
3. UK­
4. Oil exporting countries

(now let’s review: WHOSE kids are these Responsible Fatherhood is rescuing? “Ours”? I guess the Congressmen must be independently wealthy, unlike the rest of “U.S.” because at this rate, their asse(t)s appear to be in hock to other nations. (See my blog on Independence, Fatherhood and Debt — they ARE related topics…))

COPYEDITING and PROOFREADING NOTES, plus commentary:

I am technically challenged because of financial challenges, ongoing, through year after year of custody issues — to get to functional internet. This one saves slowly (sometimes it takes 30 seconds for a save) and today, I lost a whole segment from another cite showing Rep. Davis, in 2002, (photograph, too), participated in a CORONATION CEREMONY for Rev. Sun Myung Moon in a U.S. Senate Building. When confronted on this, he was unapologetic. We are not a monarchy here, yet, and we had best, as CITIZENS, stop acting like SUBJECTS, and let our REPRESENTATIVES know that talking about us behind our backs as if we were a SUBSTANCE to be manipulated (which is exactly how social scientists talk) is UNACCEPTABLE.

JUST ANOTHER HOMECOMING KING?

DIGRESSION to cover the 2004 CORONATION of The Parent to the World, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, as reported by Chicago Tribune Op Ed Columnist, Eric Zorn.

I already like this guy Zorn; he admits up front his blog is “observations reports, tips, referrals and tirades, though not necessarily in that order.” (my kinda writing. You have to love what you do . . . . )

The problem is when the tirades, or rhetoric, IS taken seriously by those dispensing it. This one dates from Nov. 2008 and context is, whether Mr. Davis was going to replace Senator Obama:

The flippant response when confronted on this regal behavior is disturbing. It’s disturbingly similar to the marriage rhetoric, and we might want to explore whether the Messianic thinking has gone a little too far in in Federal Circles. . . . . . the U.S. is NOT a monarchy; the Constitution doesn’t allow our leaders to receive titles of nobility or dispense them either. (See “Obama Obeisance link,” if it’s still active, to the right.

This is so “beyond” the faith-based cooperation that’s disturbing a lot of us — take a look at this:

“Can Danny Davis’ Star rise with a Moon in the Way?”

In promoting himself as a candidate to succeed Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago) seems to be hoping the public has forgotten his participation in a very creepy 2004 “coronation” ceremony in Washington for the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his wife.

As I wrote at the time, Davis was an active assistant (see this photo via Rich Miller) in pageantry designed to burnish and inflate the reputation of a man who, divine or not, wants to abolish Western-style democracy, compares gay people to dung-eating dogs, and in exhorting Jews to convert and follow him, told them: “You have to repent. Jesus was the King of Israel. Through the principle of indemnity, Hitler killed 6 million Jews.”

From the archives, here’s my column on that event and the Tribune editorial that followed:

Lawmaker’s take on Moon fete is crowning oddity
June 20, 2004

The most disturbing thing is not that U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D.-Ill.) attended an elaborate coronation ceremony in Washington for the controversial Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his wife.

And it’s not that Davis took an active role in the ceremony, carrying to the dais on a velvet pillow one of the jeweled crowns that were placed upon the heads of the robed Moons.

[Photo from a  blog, not the news article:

By David Neiwert Saturday Nov 29, 2008 5:00pm ]

{{Back to the Washington Post Article:}}

More than half a dozen other congressmen and senators also were in attendance, according to several reports, including one in the Washington Times, a newspaper Moon owns.

The event took place March 23 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building under the banner of the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace, a Moon-led organization.

“People crown kings and queens at homecoming parades all the time,” Davis said when I called him Friday to ask for his thoughts now that the story, which had been incubating for months in Web logs, has gathered momentum. “We do a lot of things in our society that are simply symbolic.”

Davis said it was his understanding that the crowns represented the Moons’ achievements as “true parents, both to their own children and I guess to lots of children and other people. I think they were being feted for their promotion of parenthood, of family values and family traditions.”

That’s quite a thought. In its heyday, Moon’s cultlike Unification Church was famous for separating adherents from their families and promoting mass arranged marriages that violated American family traditions.

Be afraid.  Be VERY afraid.  Where are Lily Tomlin, Chris Rock, Roseanne, Robin Williams, George Carlin, ANY comedians, when you need them?  Rep. Davis  doesn’t seem to “get” the message that this message is marching to an entirely different beat than our Constitution.

And the “Crown of Peace” honor that Moon in effect bestowed upon himself that day in the federal office building was no mere Good Daddy prize.

As he made clear toward the end of his speech to the gathering, Moon believes himself to be “God’s ambassador, sent to Earth with his full authority.“

He said, “I am sent to accomplish his command to save the world’s 6 billion people, restoring them to heaven with the original goodness in which they were created.”

Moon went on to tell the gathering in simultaneously translated Korean that he’s been in communication with the spirits of Hitler, Stalin, Marx, Lenin and “the founders of five great religions,” and that these men and other notables have unanimously “declared to all heaven and Earth that Rev. Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity’s savior, messiah, returning lord and true parent.”

Rep. Davis said: “I think he was simply saying that he’s a promoter of a message and that he thinks his message of peace and world peace make sense, not that he’s a messiah in the traditional sense.”

It’s disturbing that Davis, who has spoken and appeared at numerous other Moon-sponsored gatherings in his seven years in Washington, would have missed the plain assertion in Moon’s speech, an assertion Moon has made frequently and that Davis says conflicts with his own Christian beliefs. But it’s not the most disturbing thing.

No, the most disturbing thing is that, to this day, Davis expresses no regret about assisting in the pageantry designed to burnish and inflate the reputation of a man who, divine or not, wants to abolish Western-style democracy, compares gay people to dung-eating dogs, and in exhorting Jews to convert and follow him, told them: “You have to repent. Jesus was the King of Israel. Through the principle of indemnity, Hitler killed 6 million Jews.”

WOW.  Some of the fast backpedaling over this event (which I missed.  I was dealing locally with issues regarding child support, child visitation, and in general increasing job losses from a very poorly written (and unenforced) custody order at the time . . . . ) is phenomenal.  Appa-rently even some of Washington’s finest felt they had to explain their endorsement by attendance in this event . . . .

The Rev. Moon Honored at Hill Reception
Lawmakers Say They Were Misled

By Charles Babington and Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, June 23, 2004; Page A01

More than a dozen lawmakers attended a congressional reception this year honoring the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in which Moon declared himself the Messiah and said his teachings have helped Hitler and Stalin be “reborn as new persons.”

. . .
The event’s organizers flew in nearly 100 honorees from all 50 states to receive state and national peace awards. The only “international crown of peace awards” went to Moon and his wife.

Some Republicans who attended the event, including Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (Md.), said they did so mainly to salute the Washington Times, a conservative-leaning newspaper owned by Moon’s organization. “I had no idea what would happen” regarding Moon’s coronation and speech, Bartlett said yesterday.

But a key organizer — Archbishop George A. Stallings Jr., pastor of the Imani Temple, an independent African American Catholic congregation in Northeast Washington — said Moon’s prominent role should have surprised no one. He said a March 8 invitation faxed to all lawmakers stated that the “primary program sponsor” would be the “Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP), founded by Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon, who will also be recognized that evening for their lifelong work to promote interfaith cooperation and reconciliation.” The invitation was signed by Davis and the Rev. Michael Jenkins, as co-chairmen of the IIFWP (USA).

The event’s co-sponsors were the Washington Times Foundation, the United Press International Foundation, the American Family Coalition, the American Clergy Leadership Conference and the Women’s Federation for World Peace, according to the invitation. Stallings, a former Roman Catholic priest who was married in Moon’s church, said Moon’s association with those organizations is well known.

“You’d have to be deaf, dumb and blind to not know that any event that is sponsored by the Washington Times . . . could involve the influence, or the potential presence, of the Reverend Moon,” he said.

Use of the Dirksen building requires a senator’s approval. Dayton said he gave no such permission, and Stallings said the question of who did so is “shrouded in mystery.”

Moon has claimed to have spoken in “the spirit world” with all deceased U.S. presidents, Jesus, Moses, Mohammed and others. At the March 23 event, he said: “The founders of five great religions and many other leaders in the spirit world, including even Communist leaders such as Marx and Lenin . . . and dictators such as Hitler and Stalin, have found strength in my teachings, mended their ways and been reborn as new persons.”

Back to MY Digression:

We cannot stop the multiple foundations funding the government, which I have a come to realize probably own most of the figureheads in Washington more than we want to accept. I certainly think President Obama is plenty intelligent, and I notice, being lean, he’s probably at least as healthy as any preceding president, particularly former President Clinton. However, it’s also known that prior to election, the Obamas were the 10th richest congressmen around. These Congresspeople’s wealth includes wealth and/or assets from spouses as well. Given that, being raised by a single parent or not, there are certain differences from “the rest of us” which skin color doesn’t compensate for. The Healthy marriage Fatherhood Movement was supported by Bush AND Clinton AND even moreso, Obama. What this movement really represents, as far as I can tell, is a centralized government under the pretense of a more Healthy Nation.

Everyone (but “everyone”) knows of the Health Care debate. Too few of those not involved in it know about the extent and far-reaching consequences of the Healthy MARRIAGE debate. It doesn’t make headlines (family wipeouts DO, but they are not generally traced to this doctrine).

Nor do newspapers, also owned by SOMEONE, necessarily point the finger at the hands that feed them, and say, this waste is KILLING us financially, as well as physically.

While my blogs don’t read so smooth, or look so neat, I still will continue keeping the debate going, among fellow-bloggers and on-line, while I can spare the time to do so. The trail tells us a whole lot we didn’t learn in school, often, and what was “going down” while some of us were minding our own business, meaning, “families” and “jobs.”

I could’ve picked on another representative. However, Rep. Davis DID lead out on this bill. It’s not about individuals, but the whole language of this movement DOES smack of government playing parent to the nation, paternalistic talk, and in circles far removed from the situation.

WHEN WE FILE IN COURT, WE ARE NOT TEMPTED TO THINK OF COLUMBIA, PRINCETON, HARVARD, CORNELL, UNIV. OF PA, UNIV. OF MICHIGAN, AND THINK TANKS, PLUS JOSHUA DuBOIS ADVISING PRES. OBAMA (see top pdf, the Kirk Harris download shows a US map of all the fatherhood programs, and the title of the map refers to a webinar run by J. DuBois, i.e., faith-based initiative.

BUT DECISIONS MADE THERE AFFECT WHERE KIDS WHO MAY HAVE BEEN PRIMARILY RAISED BY A MOM FINISH GROWING UP. ALL TOO OFTEN, THEY ARE TRANSFERRED TO DAD, AND THEN HER WAGES GARNISHED, IF SOME REMAIN. T HIS IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE BECAUSE IT’S ‘SOCIAL-OUTCOME-BASED” THINKING, WHICH HAS NO PLACE IN THE COURTS. And although “low-income” may have been the initial target (supposedly), and particularly low-income Black, it certainly hasn’t remained there.

Unlike many programs that are being cut back substantially, THESE are not, it seems. They’ve been going on undercover (not in the press) for over a decade, so that when a person hits the court (she) takes a hit in the gut, the emotional/financial, etc. gut. WHY? Because of the involvement through the child support agencies.

The extra “Pow!” of the punch comes from the involvement of socialistic social service programs’ intent to put Dads back in the hoome. Well, how can this be done? By tipping the balance, working behind the scenes, pushing mediation (I’ll review in another post soon) and talking in comes of OUTCOMES, not PROCESS. Information is withheld that this is going on.

RE: OTHER PEOPLE WHO SPOKE:

I think I may set up some pages for the individual players. Although you can download it here, The first page will be Kirk Harris MPA, JD, a 14 -pager showing how the fatherhood programs nation wide grew out of the “maternal and child” care programs (no they didn’t actually). I think that innocent and naive viewers (as well as any Dad visitors) whould know what is being said about this fantastic noun, “fatherhood,” and how the thing is to really help the Dads.

1. [PDF]

   Harris, MPA, JD – Testimony for Ways and Means, Subcommittee on …

   File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – View as HTML Jun 17, 2010 … The Julia Carson Responsible. Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act (HR2979) championed by Congressman Danny Davis … waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/…/2010Jun17_Harris_Testimony.pdf

2. Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Human Resources …

   PANEL: The Honorable Evan Bayh, U.S.S., Indiana. The Honorable E. Clay Shaw, Jr., M.C., Florida. The Honorable Julia Carson, M.C., Indiana … waysandmeans.house.gov/legacy/humres/106cong/hr-11wit.htm

(1999 testimony — the link leads to individual’s statements . . . . )

ASIDE- COMMENTARY:

The larger question, really is, do we want to become socialist (or have we already); it is a question of finances, and use of them. These finances, many, come from private citizens who submit tax returns. Others are heavily pumped in with help by major foundations.

As an individual leaving a certain bad relationship, I knew that the MOST important thing to me was to regain the infrastructure of my own life and being to make choices how to run it. There were mistakes, but the most overt ones had been made over my objections during the marriage. How to correct this was problematic, but not WHAT to correct.

By contrast, some outsiders (primarily family) saw the breakup of the marriage as a failure. I saw it as a positive step, an improvement, and not a failure. The failure probably was marrying this guy to start with, but I was a different person then, not so confident.

Generally back seat drivers are not GOOD drivers. To just exist, and not have much control over the primary decisions of one’s life, or what one does with it, isn’t good. No, where freedom to choosee remains, it should be exercised and safeguarded. The OTHER reason it’s important is that one can adjust course faster, when a choice doesn’t work so well, and the learning curve accelerates.

When the government, or any major, large institution gets into doing things behind closed doors, then those ‘done to” miss that learning curve, and either have an illusion of choice in action (hence, don’t know their landscape well), or know they don’t and are less motivated to make something MEANINGFUL out of time on earth, as opposed to merely eating, breathing, surviving. And many are at that level already.

The concern about the role that private wealth plays in running government isn’t new, but people who don’t look, just aren’t aware.

These programs have been going on for so LONG: here’s from 2000, 106th Congress: The Child Support act was approved “BY VOICE VOTE.”

ACTION

FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-3625
July 20, 2000
No. FC 31-A

---

Archer Announces Committee Action on H.R. 4868, the “Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2000,” H.R. 4678, the “Child Support Distribution Act of 2000,” and H.R. 4865, the “Social Security Benefits Tax Relief Act”

Congressman Bill Archer (R-TX), Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that on Wednesday, July 19, 2000, the Committee ordered favorably reported, as amended, H.R. 4868, the “Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2000,” by voice vote. The Committee also ordered favorably reported the following two bills, as amended: H.R. 4678, the “Child Support Distribution Act of 2000,” by voice vote

Title V – Fatherhood Programs

For the fatherhood grant program for fiscal years 2001 through 2007, $140 million would be appropriated. The charitable choice provision of the welfare reform law of 1996 (P.L. 104-193) would apply to these fatherhood grants; this provision would allow States to contract with charitable, religious, or private organizations to deliver services. In addition, a national clearinghouse of information about fatherhood programs and a multi-city fatherhood demonstration project would be established.

Non-profit fatherhood organizations eligible to apply for one of the two $5 million multi-city fatherhood project grants would be required to have several years of experience in designing and conducting fatherhood programs; experience in conducting fatherhood projects in more than one major city, and experience in coordinating programs with local government agencies and private, nonprofit agencies. One of the fatherhood organizations would be required to have extensive experience in using married couples to deliver their program in the inner-city. Several provisions designed which would deal with domestic violence are included in the bill. Funds would not be able to be used for court proceeding on matters of child visitation or child custody or for legislative advocacy.

TITLE VI: Miscellaneous

The time that funds can be spent on the evaluation of the Abstinence Education Program would be extended through 2005.