THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

September 22, 2000

Warm greetings to everyone gathered in Baltimore for the 10th National Child Support Enforcement Training Conference. I am pleased to join you in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Child Support Enforcement Program and in paying tribute to David Gray Ross, whose leadership has been instrumental to the program's extraordinary success.

Children are our greatest hope and our most profound responsibility. Only when all our young people are provided with the best care and support possible can we truly say that we are prepared for the challenges of the 21st century. Unfortunately, too many of our children suffer needlessly because of parents who have not fulfilled their responsibility to provide basic economic support for their children. Millions of these young people are being forced to grow up in poverty, and their chances to lead full and happy lives are compromised.

For 25 years, our nation's Child Support Enforcement Program has played a vital role in ensuring that all our children have the chance they deserve in life -- the chance to reach their full potential. Each of you can take great pride in your dedicated efforts in this endeavor. Your commitment to making sure that parents honor their responsibilities to their own children has helped increase total child support collections nearly every year. In the past year alone, collections increased 10 percent, double what they were in 1992. These collections have helped open for millions of our nation's children and families doors of opportunity that would otherwise remain closed.

In addition to the funds you have helped families collect, you have also helped to foster strong families and responsible parenting. We've known for a long time now that students do better in school and later in life when their parents are more actively involved in their learning, and that the involvement of fathers during their children's infancy and early childhood years also contributes to their sons' and daughters' emotional security and intellectual development. While we have made great progress in ensuring that both fathers and mothers provide their children with the emotional and financial support they need to thrive, we still have more to do, and I look forward to future progress on such issues as ensuring that all children born out of wedlock have paternity established, that more child support goes directly to families, and that we do everything we can to help low-income fathers work and support their families.

As we move forward in our efforts on behalf of America's children, I'm grateful for all your hard work and the efforts of the 60,000 child support workers you represent. What you do each day matters enormously, and I extend my appreciation and thanks.

Best wishes for a productive conference.