Hatch Urges Administration to Work with Congress on Child Support Enforcement

In speech on Senate Floor, Utah senator says, “Last year, after the mid-term elections, the Obama Administration – quietly and without much fan-fare – proposed a massive, far-reaching rule that would overturn a number of bedrock principles of child support enforcement and welfare reform. Chief among them being the principle that parents should be financially responsible for their children. This was just the latest attempt on the part of the Obama Administration to bypass Congress in order to enact policies through executive fiat.”

WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor today, Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) called on the Obama Administration to work with Congress on welfare reform and child support enforcement. Earlier this week, Hatch, along with Finance Committee member Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Ways & Means Committee member Charles Boustany (R-La.) introduced legislation to prevent the Obama Administration from bypassing the Congress on welfare reform policy.

“I firmly believe that there is room for common ground. In fact, there are a number of features of the administration’s proposed rule that could generate bipartisan support. But any workable solution would have to include the full participation and ultimate consent of the Legislative Branch. Any changes to the law would have to go through Congress and not simply be dictated by the administration,” Hatch said.

The complete speech, as prepared for delivery, is below:

Mr. President, I’d like to take a few minutes to talk about another matter of great importance.

Last year, after the mid-term elections, the Obama Administration – quietly and without much fan-fare – proposed a massive, far-reaching rule that would overturn a number of bedrock principles of child support enforcement and welfare reform. Chief among them being the principle that parents should be financially responsible for their children.

This was just the latest attempt on the part of the Obama Administration to bypass Congress in order to enact policies through executive fiat. And, sadly, it wasn’t even the first time this administration has tried to gut welfare reform. Indeed, we all remember a few years back when the administration granted itself the unprecedented authority to waive critical welfare work requirements.

Put simply, this latest rule would make it easier for non-custodial parents to evade paying child support. It would undermine a key feature of welfare reform, which is that single mothers can avoid welfare if fathers comply with child support orders.

I am fundamentally opposed to policies that allow parents to abdicate their responsibilities, which, in turn, results in more families having to go on welfare. I think most Americans would agree with me.

That is why I, joined by Senator Cornyn and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, have introduced legislation that would prevent the Obama Administration from bypassing Congress in yet another attempt to subvert key features of welfare reform.

I regret that we must take this action.

In the past, members of Congress have generally been able to find common ground and work on a bipartisan basis to address issues relating to child support. In fact, Congress recently passed, and the President recently signed, legislation that made improvements to child support enforcement policies.

In 2013, the Senate Finance Committee reported a series of ambitious proposals related to child support enforcement. At that time, we requested input on these proposals from the Obama Administration. At no time did administration officials indicate that the Department of Health and Human Services was quietly working to advance a massive overhaul of child support enforcement, much less that it was planning on doing so without the help or input of Congress.

It’s important to note that this secretive preparation only came to light AFTER the recent elections. That suggests to me that the administration does not have faith that its proposal can withstand public scrutiny and that they have no interest in making a full and transparent justification for the policies they are trying to ram through.

Truth be told, Chairman Ryan and I have introduced our legislation more out of sorrow than anger.

For many months our offices attempted to work out an equitable arrangement with the Obama Administration. We tried to convince HHS to withdraw the problematic features of the rule and in exchange, we would agree to engage in a substantive, productive discussion on how to move forward with improvements to child support enforcement.

I firmly believe that there is room for common ground. In fact, there are a number of features of the administration’s proposed rule that could generate bipartisan support.

But any workable solution would have to include the full participation and ultimate consent of the Legislative Branch. Any changes to the law would have to go through Congress and not simply be dictated by the administration.

So, Mr. President, Chairman Ryan and I will do all we can to get our bill through Congress and present it to the President. If we’re successful, I hope he will sign it and commit to working with us in the future to advance reforms to child support enforcement.

I stand ready to work with the administration and any of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Capitol to achieve this goal.

###

Next Article Previous Article