Political Quotes

“I rise today on behalf of myself and Senator Collins, to introduce the Child Care Infant Mortality Act. This is bipartisan legislation that would allow states participating in the Child Care Development Block Grant, CCDBG, to use part of this funding for child safety training. Currently, states participating in Child Care Development Block Grant, CCDBG, are required to set aside at least 4 percent of funds to improve the quality of the programs offered in their states. Our bill would simply ensure that strategies to enhance child safety, including disseminating information related to prevention strategies for sudden unexpected infant death, are included in as an allowable use of funds. According to the Centers for Disease Control, CDC, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, half of the approximately 4,500 SUID cases in the United States are entirely preventable with effective training and implementation of correct sleep practices. It is estimated that child care settings account for 20 percent of all SUID fatalities in the United States. Life-saving sleep strategies, first aid and CPR are successful in preventing infant death and are easily implementable; yet training is not currently an allowable use of funds under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act. Nationally, over 4,500 infants die suddenly with no immediate obvious cause every year. These deaths are not highly publicized by the media because of the severe pain it causes families.…”