Despite the possibility of facing a bankrupt federal highway trust fund later this summer, the Obama administration's Secretary of Transportation has found time to write an advice column about fatherhood.
Secretary Anthony Foxx posted a column on the Department of Transportation's website titled, "Thoughts on Fatherhood in the 21st Century." In it, he recounted how he grew up without a father, and how he tries to get home each night to read to his children and tell them about how he grew up.
Anthony Foxx runs the Department of Transportation, but he also has ideas on how to be a better father. (AP Photo)
"Part of being a father, I've figured out, is letting your kids know that you're just like them — that you're human — and that your experience can help them navigate their own lives," he wrote.
Foxx also noted that he participated in a White House meeting Monday to discuss the role of fathers in the workplace. According to the White House, that meeting focused on "the state of working dads," and focused on how companies can create a "win-win" culture to "enable these fathers to be more involved parents and better employees."
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough spoke at that event, as did Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and Jason Furman, who chairs the Council of Economic Advisers.
Foxx's column is part of a series that's building up to the White House's Working Families Summit, which will be held on June 23.
Foxx's thoughts on fatherhood were released as Congress is scrambling to find ways to replenish the federal highway trust fund before it's all used up in the coming weeks.
In the Senate, members are considering a tax break on companies that could repatriate billions of dollars of overseas earnings, which could help fund new highway spending. And in the House, Republicans are pushing a plan to end Saturday mail delivery, which would help create new highway funds.
Refilling the trust fund for federal highway projects has been a challenge for the last several years. Many observers say the increased fuel-efficiency of cars and trucks means people need less gas, which means less tax revenue for the federal government.
Some Democrats have suggested raising the gas tax, and some have said the government should start taxing people based on how far they drive, not on how much gas they use. That would involve inserting tracking devices of people's cars that would let the government see how far those cars are driven.
