H.R. 590

Supporting the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should raise awareness of domestic violence in the United States and its devastating effects on families and communities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 31, 2007

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month; and
(2) expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should continue to raise awareness of domestic violence in the United States and its devastating effects on families and communities.

H.R. 3258

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow an individual who is entitled to receive child support a refundable credit equal to the amount of unpaid child support and to increase the tax liability of the individual required to pay such support by the amount of the unpaid child support.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 31, 2007

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California (for herself, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mrs. BONO, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. SPACE, and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow an individual who is entitled to receive child support a refundable credit equal to the amount of unpaid child support and to increase the tax liability of the individual required to pay such support by the amount of the unpaid child support.

H.R. 3845
PROTECT Our Children Act of 2007
(Introduced in House)

Beginning October 16, 2007

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) Short Title- This Act may be cited as the `Providing Resources, Officers, and Technology to Eradicate Cyber Threats to Our Children Act of 2007' or the `PROTECT Our Children Act of 2007'.

(b) Table of Contents- The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Definitions.

TITLE I--SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR CHILD
EXPLOITATION PREVENTION AND INTERDICTION

Sec. 101. Establishment of special counsel for child exploitation prevention and interdiction.

Sec. 102. Establishment of ICAC task force program.

Sec. 103. Purpose of ICAC task forces.

Sec. 104. Duties and functions of task forces.

Sec. 105. National ICAC data network center.

Sec. 106. ICAC grant program.

Sec. 107. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE II--ADDITIONAL MEASURES TO COMBAT CHILD EXPLOITATION

Sec. 201. Additional regional computer forensic labs.

Sec. 202. Additional field agents for the FBI.

Sec. 203. Immigrations and customs enforcement enhancement.

Sec. 204. Accountability provisions for child exploitation prevention and interdiction.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) The Internet has facilitated the growth of a multi-billion dollar global market for images and video of children being sexually-displayed, raped, and tortured, far exceeding the capacity of law enforcement to respond at the Federal, State, and local level.

(2) The explosion of child pornography trafficking is claiming very young victims. Research by the Department of Justice, the University of New Hampshire, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicates that among those arrested for possession of child pornography, 83 percent have images of children 6-12 years old, 39 percent have images of children 3-5 years old, and 19 percent have images of children under the age of 3 years old.

(3) The images and videos being trafficked typically depict sexual assaults that are both graphic and brutal. The research described in paragraph (2) also indicates that 80 percent of known child pornography possessors have images of children being sexually penetrated and 21 percent have images depicting children bound, gagged, blindfolded, or `otherwise enduring sadistic sex.' Just one percent of such possessors restricted their collecting to images of simple child nudity.

(4) Millions of children and teens in the United States are at risk from sexual predators who are hunting, stalking, and luring minors online. Along with the incredible access to the world offered our children by the Internet, the Internet also offers the world access to our children.

(5) The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force program (ICAC Program) of the Department of Justice has identified millions of child pornography transactions involving images and video of child sexual assault from millions of computer IP addresses worldwide.

(6) The ICAC Program has been highly successful in creating and sustaining an emerging national network of 46 Federal, State, and local task forces, which form the backbone of national readiness to combat child exploitation.

(7) In testimony before Congress, law enforcement experts have expressed consensus that lack of dedicated forensic analysis capacity is a severe problem at the Federal, State, and local level, severely limiting the number of predators that can be interdicted and children that can be identified and rescued.

(8) The Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, and the United States Postal Inspection Service have each developed highly specialized and successful child exploitation investigative capabilities, yet these agencies have testified to Congress that they must triage the overwhelming number of child exploitation crimes and cannot investigate a large percentage of known crimes.

(9) Child pornography and online child enticement crimes have among the highest conviction rates of any child sexual offense, and the research funded by the Department of Justice indicates that the majority of child pornography offenders have committed or attempted direct sexual contact offenses against children. Investigating and prosecuting these predators is one of the most concrete and measurable strategies for the prevention of future child sexual abuse.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) CHILD EXPLOITATION-

(A) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the term `child exploitation' means any conduct, or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such conduct, constituting criminal sexual abuse of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, abusive sexual contact of a minor, sexually explicit conduct with a minor, or any similar offense under Federal or State law.

(B) STATUTORY RAPE EXCEPTION- For the purposes of subparagraph (A), the terms `sexual exploitation of a minor', `abusive sexual contact of a minor', and `sexually explicit conduct with a minor' shall not include consensual sexual contact or conduct between two individuals who are over the age of 16 years and under the age of 18 years.

(2) MINOR- The term `minor' means any person under the age of 18 years.

(3) SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT- The term `sexually explicit conduct' has the meaning given such term in section 2256 of title 18, United States Code.

S.182

To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to improve the ability of State and local governments to prevent the abduction of children by family members, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

January 4, 2007

A BILL

To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to improve the ability of State and local governments to prevent the abduction of children by family members, and for other purposes.

S.382

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a State family support grant program to end the practice of parents giving legal custody of their seriously emotionally disturbed children to State agencies for the purpose of obtaining mental health services for those children.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

January 24, 2007

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

It is the purpose of this Act to assist States in eliminating the practice of parents giving custody of their seriously emotionally disturbed children to State agencies for the purpose of securing mental health care for those children.

S.661
Kinship Caregiver Support Act
(Introduced in Senate)

SEC. 102. PURPOSE.

The purposes of this Act are--

(1) to establish kinship navigator programs in States, large metropolitan areas, and tribal areas to assist kinship caregivers in navigating their way through programs and services, to help the caregivers learn about and obtain assistance to meet the needs of the children they are raising and their own needs; and

(2) to promote effective partnerships among public and private not-for-profit agencies, including community-based and faith-based agencies, to help the agencies described in this paragraph more effectively and efficiently serve kinship care families and address the fragmentation that creates barriers to meeting the needs of those families.

S.667
Education Begins at Home Act
(Introduced in Senate)

Beginning February 16, 2007

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

(a) Findings- Congress finds that--

(1) the home is the first and most important learning environment for children, and parents are their children's first and most influential teacher;

(2) through parent education and family support, we can promote parents' ability to enhance their children's development from birth until entry into kindergarten thereby helping parents to prepare their children for success in school;

(3) undiagnosed and unaddressed developmental and health problems can impede overall child development and school readiness;

(4) all parents deserve and can benefit from--

(A) research-based information regarding child development;

(B) enrichment opportunities with their children; and

(C) early opportunities to become involved with their community and schools; and

(5) early childhood home visitation leads to positive outcomes for children and families, including readiness for school, improved child health and development, positive parenting practices, and reductions in child maltreatment.

(b) Purposes- The purposes of this Act are as follows:

(1) To enable States to deliver services under early childhood home visitation programs to pregnant women and parents of children from birth until entry into kindergarten in order to promote parents' ability to support their children's optimal cognitive, language, social-emotional, and physical development.

(2) To improve Early Head Start programs carried out under section 645A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840a).

(3) To expand early childhood home visitation programs so as to more effectively reach and serve families with English language learners.

(4) To expand early childhood visitation programs so as to more effectively reach and serve families serving in the military.

(5) To establish a public education and awareness campaign concerning the importance of the proper care of infants and young children.

(6) To make available for parents of newborn children parenting classes that convey information about the importance of proper care for newborns, including information about symptoms of abusive head and other injuries.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) ELIGIBLE FAMILY- The term `eligible family' means--

(A) a woman who is pregnant, and the father of the child if the father is available; or

(B) a parent or primary caregiver of a child, including grandparents or other relatives of the child, and foster parents, who are serving as the primary caregiver from birth until entry into kindergarten, including a noncustodial parent during periods in which such noncustodial parent is physically caring for such child.

(2) HOME VISITATION- The term `home visitation' means services provided in the permanent or temporary residence, or in a mutually agreed upon location in the community, of the individual receiving such services.

(3) INDIAN TRIBE- The term `Indian tribe' has the meaning given such term in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (52 U.S.C. 450(b)(e)).

(4) SECRETARY- Except as provided in section 7, the term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(5) STATE- The term `State' means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

(6) TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS - The term `territories and possessions' means American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands.

(7) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION- The term `tribal organization' has the meaning given such term in section 4(l) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(l)).

S.803

To repeal a provision enacted to end Federal matching of State spending of child support incentive payments.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 7, 2007

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. KOHL, Ms. SNOWE, and Mr. COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To repeal a provision enacted to end Federal matching of State spending of child support incentive payments.

S.1626
Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act of 2007
(Introduced in Senate)

Beginning June 14, 2007 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) Short Title- This Act may be cited as the `Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act of 2007'.

(b) Table of Contents- The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

TITLE I--PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD AND STRENGTHENING LOW-INCOME FAMILIES

Sec. 101. Healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood programs.

Sec. 102. Grants to healthy family partnerships for domestic violence prevention, for services for families and individuals affected by domestic violence, and for developing and implementing best practices.

Sec. 103. Elimination of separate TANF work participation rate for 2-parent families.

Sec. 104. Ban on recovery of medicaid costs for births.

Sec. 105. Improved collection and distribution of child support.

Sec. 106. Grants to States to conduct demonstration projects to promote economic opportunity for low-income parents.

Sec. 107. State assessments of barriers to employment and financial support of children.

Sec. 108. Collection of child support under the food stamp program.

TITLE II--REVENUE PROVISIONS

Sec. 201. Modifications to the earned income tax credit.
Sec. 202. Broker reporting of customer's basis in securities transactions.
Sec. 203. Modification of effective date of leasing provisions of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004.
Sec. 204. Clarification of economic substance doctrine.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) The most important factor in a child's upbringing is whether the child is brought up in a loving, healthy, supportive environment.

(2) Children who grow up with two parents are, on average, more likely than their peers in single-parent homes to finish high school and be economically self-sufficient.

(3) Father-child interaction, like mother-child interaction, has been shown to promote the positive physical, social, emotional, and mental development of children.

(4) Children typically live without both parents when their parents are divorced or did not marry. More than 1/3 of all first marriages end in divorce, and 60 percent of divorcing couples have children. More than 1/3 of all births are to unmarried women.

(5) More than 1 in 4 families with children have only 1 parent present, and more than 1 in 3 children live absent their biological father.

(6) Recent studies demonstrate that most unwed fathers in urban areas are highly involved with the mother of their child before and after the child's birth, with 80 percent involved during the mother's pregnancy, and 50 percent living with the child's mother at the time of the child's birth. However, the relationship between the parents often does not last, and many fathers do not maintain contact with their children as the children grow up.

(7) An estimated 40 percent of the children who live in households without their father have not seen their fathers in at least 1 year.

(8) The inability of parents to sustain a healthy relationship with their child's other parent and remain involved in their child's life can have severe negative consequences for the parents, the child, their community, and taxpayers.

(9) Single-parent families are 5 times as likely to be poor as married-couple families.

(10) Children raised in single-parent families are more likely than children raised in 2-parent families to do poorly in school, have emotional and behavioral problems, become teenage parents, commit crimes, smoke cigarettes, abuse drugs and alcohol, and have poverty-level incomes as adults.

(11) High rates of unemployment and low wages are primary reasons why parents do not marry, why 2-parent families break up, and why fathers fail to remain involved with their children.

(12) Domestic violence is also a significant problem leading to the non-formation or break-up of 2-parent families.

(13) A history of incarceration is a major barrier to employment. 60 percent of young African-American men who dropped out of high school have served time. When these men leave prison, they often have difficulty finding a job and supporting their children.

(14) Over 1/2 of State prison inmates are parents. When noncustodial parents go to prison, their child support obligations continue, even though they have little ability to pay the support. When these parents leave prison, they typically owe more than $20,000 in child support debt. Noncustodial parents leaving prison often re-enter the underground economy because of financial pressures or to avoid the child support system, making it less likely that they will successfully rejoin society and reunite with their families.

(15) Children should receive the child support paid by their parents, and the government should not keep the money to recover welfare costs. Regular child support income appears to have a greater positive impact on children dollar for dollar than other types of income. Researchers in Wisconsin found that when monthly child support was passed through to families receiving assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program established under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (TANF) and disregarded 100 percent in determining assistance for the families, fathers paid more child support, established their legal relationship with their children more quickly, and worked less in the underground economy. Moreover, the State costs of a full pass-through and disregard of child support were fully offset by increased payments by fathers and decreased public assistance use by families.

(16) The Department of Health and Human Services National Child Support Enforcement Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2005 through 2009 states that `child support is no longer a welfare reimbursement, revenue-producing device for the Federal and State governments; it is a family-first program, intended to ensure families' self-sufficiency by making child support a more reliable source of income'.

(17) Current law permits States to apply the cost of passing through child support to families receiving assistance under the TANF program toward their maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements, but only to the extent that the State disregards the child support payments in determining the amount and type of TANF assistance.

(18) Programs that increase employment opportunity and reduce barriers by increasing employment opportunity and reducing recidivism will benefit children and families.

(19) Transitional jobs programs have shown promise in reducing unemployment among chronically unemployed or underemployed population groups, including formerly incarcerated individuals, the homeless, and young African-American men.

(20) To strengthen families it is important to improve the upward economic mobility of the custodial and noncustodial parent wage-earners, as well as youth at risk of early parenthood or incarceration, by providing the skills and experience necessary to access jobs with family-sustaining wages and benefits. In families in which all the members do not live together, this is important to enable the prompt and consistent payment of adequate child support.

(21) It is important and useful to foster local and regional economic development and job advancement for workers, especially young custodial and noncustodial parents, by funding local collaborations among business, education, and the community in the development of pathways for preparing disadvantaged citizens to meet the workforce needs of the local and regional economy.

(22) Employers benefit from working with and being supported by the local education, post-secondary and workforce systems in identifying the academic and occupational skill sets needed to fill the skilled jobs in the changing economy. Local economic and community development is enhanced when residents have access to higher wage employment, thus increasing the tax base, fueling the economy, and contributing to greater family economic security.

(23) Public-private career pathways partnerships are an important tool for linking employers and workers with the workforce education services they need and for integrating community economic development and workforce education services. Transitional jobs programs can serve as the first step in a career pathway by giving unemployed individuals with multiple barriers to employment, valuable work experience and related services.

(24) The purpose of child support is to provide necessary income support for and increase the well-being of children living apart from a parent. To improve the ability of low-income noncustodial parents to provide long-term support and care for their children throughout their entire childhood, it is important that child support polices support parental efforts to pursue education and employment and to stay involved with their children

(25) Responsible parenthood includes active participation in financial support and child-rearing, as well as the formation and maintenance of a positive, healthy, and nonviolent relationship between parent and child and a cooperative, healthy, and nonviolent relationship between parents.

(26) States should be encouraged to implement voluntary programs that provide support for responsible parenting, including by increasing the employment and financial security of parents, and the parental involvement of noncustodial parents.

(27) Promoting responsible parenthood saves the government money by reducing the need for public assistance, increasing the educational attainment of children, reducing juvenile delinquency and crime, reducing substance abuse, and lowering rates of unemployment.

(28) Programs to encourage responsible fatherhood or responsible motherhood should promote and provide support services for--

(A) fostering loving and healthy relationships between parents and children;

(B) increasing responsibility of noncustodial parents for the long-term care and financial well-being of their children;

(C) increasing employment of low-income, noncustodial parents and improving compliance with child support obligations; and

(D) reducing barriers to active 2-parent involvement and cooperative parenting.

(29) The promotion of marriage and responsible parenthood should not denigrate the standing or parenting efforts of single parents or other caregivers, lessen the protection of children from abusive parents, or compromise the safety or health of the custodial or noncustodial parent, but should increase the chance that children will have 2 caring parents to help them grow up healthy and secure.