RADAR ALERT:

Congressman Scott, Combat the Fatherhood Crisis: Oppose H.R. 6088 Senator Barak Obama gave a speech on the importance of fatherhood the same week that the National Fatherhood Initiative released a report, "The One Hundred Billion Dollar Man," on the taxpayer costs of absent fathers. The good news is that more and more policy makers and organizations are starting to understand the impact of absent fathers. The bad news is policy makers do not really understand the causes of the fatherhood crisis. As one of the few mainstream journalists who understand the government's role in creating the fatherhood crisis, Kathleen Parker, pointed out in "Obama's Incomplete Plea on Fatherhood," Obama failed to mention that "the problem of absent fathers, especially in the black community, is tied in part to well-intentioned social programs such as ... domestic violence prevention." Since "the state's punitive powers, permitted without due process, are mind-boggling to consider" and not every allegation of domestic violence is legitimate, "[o]nce the system is engaged and injunctions issued, even innocent fathers are unlikely to see much of their children. Perhaps never." A prime example of policy maker's failure to grasp root causes is H.R.6088, which gives $55.5 million to prosecute alleged perpetrators of domestic violence. The key word here is alleged. The bill acts as if false accusations and overzealous prosecution do not exist. It is hard to find another area where the federal government tips the scales of justice so much. Because so many of the victims of this federally funded railroading will be African American fathers, it is difficult to understand why the Congressional Black Caucus is not unanimously opposed to it. Amazingly, two members of the Black Caucus, Congressman Conyers and Congressman Sheila Jackson-Lee, are the sponsor and co-sponsor of H.R 6088. Fortunately not all members of the Black Caucus have signed on to H.R 6088. One key member is Congressman Robert "Bobby" Scott (D Va.). Congressman Scott is chairman of the Crime Sub-Committee of the House Judicial Committee. To pass, H.R. 6088 must go through his sub-committee. Please contact Congressman Scott and ask him to do his part to alleviate the fatherhood crisis by opposing H.R. 6088. 1201 Longworth HOB

Washington, DC 20515

(202) 225-8351 Phone

(202) 225-8354 Fax He can be reached electronically through this web page: http://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml. Quote the National Fatherhood Initiative study1 and Kathleen Parker's article2 and let him know that H.R. 6088 will further exacerbate the fatherhood crisis by pushing more fathers, especially African American fathers, out of their children's lives. If you are African American, let him know. And, as always, be polite and courteous. 1 http://www.fatherhood.org/download_files.asp?DownloadID=51 2 http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Kathleen+Parker%3A+Obama's+incomplete+plea+on+fatherhood&articleId=0fcbf95a-8ba6-48ac-be8f-1d2a0a5ec37e Date of RADAR Release: June 23, 2008 Want to improve the chance that they'll pay attention to your letter? Click here. R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's approach to solving domestic violence. http://mediaradar.org