Seeking clarity, I called the administration's top marriage maven, Wade Horn at Health and Human Services.

"Wade Horn is an honest broker who works effectively across party lines in the best interest of our nation's children," said Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, the chief Democratic spokesman on the issue.

"This is the new frontier of child-support enforcement," said Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families in the Department of Health and Human Services.

"It's an important piece of information for us as we move forward in implementing this program," Wade Horn, the department's assistant secretary for children and families, said of the Amnesty report.

Wade Horn, the federal official in charge of Head Start, said that extensive field testing had been done to make certain not only that the test is reliable, but also that children find it "fun, interesting and enjoyable."

In an e-mail message to his staff, Wade Horn, the assistant secretary for children and families, explicitly banned hiring columnists for the Health and Human Services Department, saying it was "important to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest."

In 2006 testimony to a House Appropriations Subcommittee, Wade Horn further highlighted the program's goals in a request for increased funding:

Wade Horn, the Bush administration official who oversees the welfare program, has assured critics that the administration, by supporting demonstration projects that promote marriage, doesn't intend to coerce people to the altar.

To Wade Horn, the Bush administration's "marriage guru," that shows he has a product that's wanted.

Wade Horn, "Supporting Men as Dads Can Benefit Everyone," Washington Times, February 8, 2000, p. E2.