Net used to track deadbeat parents

In an effort to send a message to parents who neglect to pay child support and demonstrate his Net savvy to Silicon Valley, President Clinton today announced a measure that will use the Net to find "deadbeat" parents.

The Child Support Recovery Act of 1992 makes it a federal offense for parents to willfully fail to pay child support for their child, even if the child lives in another state. The Justice Department has also been working with local U.S. attorneys' offices to collect child support from parents who seek to evade the law, but Clinton today said that's not good enough.

"The Department of Justice, working with the Department of Health and Human Services and the states, must pursue all available measures to punish those who have tried to evade their child support obligations," Clinton wrote in a memorandum to the attorney general.

He outlined four steps designed to strengthen child support enforcement efforts, one of which includes using the Internet to disseminate information about deadbeat parents: "I direct you as part of your effort to enforce criminal laws, to cooperate with the Department of Health and Human Services to place on their Internet child support page the names of persons who have been indicted under Federal law for willfully failing to pay child support and have fled in an attempt to escape criminal prosecution."

The president has instructed the attorney general to report back to him on progress in implementing the new procedures within three months.

*what good are laws.....*

The laws that the US have are great, BUT what good are they if they aren't enforced?? I have a wanderful baby girl with my ex, and he has four kids total that he is suppose to pay child support on and goes day after day, month after month, years....not paying child support and this man has spent MAYBE a total of a month in jail. YES, maybe I should of thought twice before I had a child with him you must think, but I didn't relize what a deadbeat he was until I kicked his sorry butt!! Like I said, the laws are great, BUT just maybe things need to change a bit, maybe you all need to crack down on these deadbeats harder, stop dragging them into court month to month, if they don't pay their support, throw their sorry butts in jail!!! If they aren't paying child support, and they go to jail, well WE aren't missing any money, because it wasn't there to begin with!!!! Well, that's all that I have to say, I don't think it's right that THEY get away with out paying, but yet if it was US denying them of visitation, then WE would get thrown in jail. Thanks for listening!!