Now, I can’t legislate¹（立法） fatherhood -- I can’t force anybody to love a child.  But what we can do is send a clear message to our fathers that there is no excuse for failing to meet their obligations.  What we can do is make it easier for fathers who make responsible choices and harder for those who avoid those choices.  What we can do is come together and support fathers who are willing to step up（提高，增加） and be good partners and parents and providers.

And that’s why today we’re launching the next phase（阶段） of our work to promote responsible fatherhood -- a new, nationwide Fatherhood and Mentoring² Initiative.  This is a call to action with cities and states, with individuals and organizations across the country -- from the NFL Players Association to the National PTA, to everyday moms and dads -- we’re raising awareness³ about responsible fatherhood and working to re-engage absent fathers with their families.

As part of this effort, we’ve proposed a new and expanded Fatherhood, Marriage and Families Innovation Fund.  And we plan to seek out（找出，搜出） and support the very best, most successful initiatives in our states and communities -- those that are offering services like job training, or parenting skills classes, domestic violence（家庭暴力） prevention -- all which help provide the kind of network of support for men, particularly those in vulnerable communities.

We’re also going to help dads who get caught up -- we want to make sure that they're caught up on child support payments and that we re-engage them in their children’s lives.  We’re going to support efforts to build healthy relationships between parents as well -- because we know that children benefit not just from loving mothers and loving fathers, but from strong and loving marriages as well.  (Applause.) 

We’re also launching a new transitional jobs initiative for ex-offenders and low-income, non-custodial（保管的） fathers --(applause) -- because these are men who often face serious barriers to finding work and keeping work.  We’ll help them develop the skills and experience they need to move into full-time⁴, long-term employment, so they can meet their child support obligations and help provide for their families.

And under Eric Holder’s direction, our Justice Department is planning to create its first “Fathering Re-Entry Court” for ex-offender dads -- (applause) -- and to help replicate⁵（重复） this program in courts across the country.  The idea here is very simple:  to reach fathers right as they’re leaving the criminal justice system and connect them immediately to the employment and services they need to start making their child support payments and reconnecting them with their families.

This program was inspired by leaders like Peter Spokes⁶, who was the executive director of the National Center for Fathering -- a good friend to many in our administration, all of whom were deeply saddened by his recent passing.  And we are honored to have Peter’s wife, Barbara, with us here today.  Where’s Barbara?  I just saw her earlier.  There she is.  (Applause.)  Thank you.

So these initiatives are a good start.  But ultimately, we know that the decision to be a good father -- that’s up to us, each of us, as individuals.  It’s one that men across this country are making every single day -- attending those school assemblies; parent-teacher conferences; coaching soccer, Little League; scrimping and saving（节俭） , and working that extra shift so that their children can go to college.  And plenty of fathers -- and men who aren’t fathers as well -- are stepping up to serve as mentors⁷ and tutors and big brothers and foster parents（养父母） to young people who don’t have any responsible adult in their lives.  
Even when we give it our best efforts, there will still be plenty of days of struggle and heartache when we don’t quite measure up -- talking to the men here now.  Even with all the good fortune and support Michelle and I have had in our lives, I’ve made plenty of mistakes as a parent.  I’ve lost count of all the times when the demands of work have taken me from the duties of fatherhood.  And I know I’ve missed out on moments in my daughters’ lives that I’ll never get back, and that’s a loss that’s hard to accept.

But I also know the feeling that one author described when she wrote that “to have a child…is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”  (Laughter.)  Think about that -- to have a child is to have your heart walking around outside your body.

I’m sure a lot of fathers here know that same memory that I have, of driving home with Michelle and Malia right after she was born, going about 10 miles an hour.  (Laughter.)  Your emotions swinging（摇摆） between unadulterated（纯粹的，完全的） joy and sheer（绝对的，透明的） terror.  (Laughter.)  And I made a pledge that day that I would do everything I could to give my daughter what I never had -- that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father.  (Applause.)

And like a lot of the men here, since that time I’ve found there’s nothing else in my life that compares to the pleasures I take in spending time with my girls.  Nothing else comes close to the pride I feel in their achievement and the satisfaction I get in watching them grow into strong, confident young women.

Over the course of my life, I have been an attorney, I’ve been a professor, I’ve been a state senator, I’ve been a U.S. senator -- and I currently am serving as President of the United States.  But I can say without hesitation⁸ that the most challenging, most fulfilling, most important job I will have during my time on this Earth is to be Sasha and Malia’s dad.  (Applause.)

So you don’t need a fancy（奇特的） degree for that.  You don’t need a lot of money for that.  No matter what doubts we may feel, what difficulties we may face, we all have to remember being a father -- it’s not just an obligation and a responsibility; it is a privilege（特权，优待） and a blessing⁹, one that we all have to embrace as individuals and as a nation.

So, Happy Father’s Day, everybody.  God bless you.  God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

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