Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2013, along with Senators Burr, Harkin, and Alexander. For the past year, our offices have worked on a bipartisan basis to draft a comprehensive reauthorization of the Child Care Development Block Grant, CCDBG, a program that helps low- and moderate-income working families access and afford child care. This program helps working parents keep working, it helps parents who are in school stay in school, and it is supposed to ensure that children are in safe environments that support their physical, emotional, and cognitive development. It is a vital program and its reauthorization is of the utmost importance. We did not draft this reauthorization in a vacuum. We held three public hearings in the Subcommittee on Children and Families, and we worked closely with all members, Democrat and Republican, of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. We also asked for input and recommendations from folks on the ground since we know that parents, child care providers, and early learning and developmental experts, know best how this program works and how it can be improved. It is my hope that the bill we're introducing today represents all of the good ideas that have been brought to us throughout this process. It is noteworthy that the CCDBG program has not been reauthorized since 1996. The last time we reauthorized CCDBG was during welfare reform.…”