Just another home in America

Arizona Daily Wildcat

If one must be identified, however, then we must make the best effort to seek out that which has the most influence on society as a whole. In this attempt, we must return to an institution that is the first we come to know and, at the end, the last to which we bid farewell. We must return to an institution that has survived for thousands of years but today faces an uncertain future. We must return to the family.

Tonight nearly 40 percent of American children will go to sleep in homes without both parents. This statistic, however, is just that - a statistic. It lacks the real-life understanding of individual situations.

Perhaps more importantly, statistics neglect to give credit to the many less than traditional families who, regardless of circumstances, rise above their misfortunes. Does a home with two parents always provide more love and support than one without? It absolutely does not. However, I believe that the breakdown of this fundamental institution is a significant contributor to many of America's most serious problems.

Newt Gingrich offered support to this belief when he wrote in To Renew America about the effect this breakdown has on the American welfare crisis. He made the argument that being pregnant outside of marriage "turns into a terrible trap." Three-fourths of all unmarried teen-age mothers end up on welfare within five years. More than 40 percent remain on the rolls for more than 10 years. The daughters of teen-age mothers are 2 1/2 more likely to become teen-age mothers themselves, and when they do, they are three times as likely to live in poverty."

Not only can the results of this dilemma be so devastating, the absence of the family unit can leave individuals without the support which, I feel, can propel them through the greatest of tragedy. This kind of support, or "safety-net" (to use a term many like to hurl around Capitol Hill), could never be extended from the federal government.

This is a large part of the challenge: Convincing those in Washington that sometimes government is not the best answer. But how does one make such a case? Perhaps, again, by quoting statistics or stressing the importance of moral values. For my purposes here, however, such attempts leave a great deal to be desired. So my approach is a bit different.

I was 6-years-old when my father suffered his first heart attack. The outlook my family faced was, to say the least, discouraging. Four small children yet to reach teen-age years lived in one home, and the only source of income was permanently disabled.

At this young age, my lesson in the power and possibility of the family began. These experiences would shape my belief that the importance of the family can never be minimized and must be stressed on a national stage.

To better understand, I should tell my story.

Faced with no alternative, my mother left her role as caretaker and stepped into a workforce foreign to her. With only a high school education, the urgency of the situation left no other choice than to accept the first job she could find - a custodian in a local elementary school. In addition to a permanent second job, my mother began college in the evening. My memory of those times remains vivid. I remember her up all night on many occasions, studying for an exam after working all day until late in the evening. She never complained. I remember, although quite poor, never feeling as though I was lacking.

Then I remember the proudest day of my life. After a decade of working two jobs, caring for us and my father, all with no government assistance, my mother put on her cap and gown and graduated - with honors.

This recount is intended to be more than touching. It showed me first hand what is possible when a family comes together rather than unfolds. It modeled a sense of possibility that the federal government could never provide. And when it is minimized we see the tragic results. However, when it is emphasized, the greatest of things can be realized.

Today, my mother is a member of corporate America, employed by a Fortune 200 company. Because of sacrifice and hard work, I and every one of my siblings were given the opportunity to go on to a college our choosing. What separated us from those who wound up down a different path? Why is it that my mother graduated magna cum laude instead of becoming trapped in a life of dependency and destitution? Why is it that 17 years later, I have just served one of the most powerful men in the world and am preparing for a career in law?

These are questions I am fully capable of answering. The answer does not lie in statistics or academia, legislation or politics. Rather, it lies within the walls of just another home, on another street, in another town in America.