The Marriage Movement, including the Institute for American Values, the National Fatherhood Initiative, and the National Marriage Project, held a highly publicized conference in Washington, DC this week in which they endorsed president's Bush's marriage initiative.

According to Knight-Ridder, "Under the proposal, federal money could be used for advertising campaigns to publicize the value of marriage, instruction in marriage skills and mentoring programs that use married couples as role models. The plan also could include premarital education programs that focus on high school students, young adults interested in marriage, engaged couples and couples who aren't married when their child is born."

Supporters of the marriage initiative argue that the billions currently spent on welfare, food stamps, public housing, etc., are simply an "expensive ambulance" designed to solve problems which in many cases could be avoided if we were not faced with so many broken homes and out of wedlock births. Critics say the proposals are at best ineffective and irrelevant, and warn that they could represent an unwarranted state intrusion into private life.

Rozario Slack of First Things First is one of the most prominent advocates of the president's marriage proposals. Stephen Baskerville, the new president of the 40,000 member American Coalition for Fathers and Children, has been one of its loudest critics. Rozario and Stephen joined Glenn to debate the president's marriage initiative.

To learn more about the president's marriage initiative, see:

Why We Support the Administration's Marriage Initiative, cosigned by dozens of marriage advocates, including Rozario Slack

Closing the Marriage Gap (Crisis Magazine, 6/2/03), by Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families in the US Department of Health and Human Services.

To read Stephen Baskerville's criticisms of the marriage initiative and similar measures, see:

Government as Family Therapist (NRO, 5/16/03) Also see the IAV's Tom Sylvester's reply to Baskerville--Hounding Baskerville (NRO, 5/13/03)