Political Quotes

“I am so glad to join my colleagues on the floor today to really emphasize how a family's life falls apart when they don't have access to good childcare. I am one of a handful of parents of young kids. I have no complaints. Obviously, my wife and I make enough money so that we have been able to provide quality childcare for our kids, as we have both been working throughout their lives. But when you are living on a more modest salary--not a poverty wage but just a modest, lower middle income salary--your entire world can fall apart when you lose access to a quality childcare environment. People have to quit their jobs. They have to move back in with their parents. They have to move their entire family to a different city or a different State. Your entire life gets upended when you can't find care for your child because you will upend your entire life for your child. Nothing matters more than making sure your child is safe. So what we are forcing our families to do simply because we don't choose to do the right thing and provide funding to make sure there is affordable, quality childcare available--it is sending our families into unnecessary crisis all over this country. In my State, I have had 124,000 parents report that their work has been disrupted by childcare issues, that they have had to leave work, that they have had to leave employment because of an interruption in childcare. Our childcare centers in Connecticut--and we are a high-cost childcare State.…”