Political Quotes

“Madam President, I support the Child Care and Development Block Grant, CCDBG, reauthorization bill, S. 1086, which is now pending before the Senate. I urge my colleagues to pass this legislation, which would send it to the President for his signature. I want to congratulate my colleagues, Senator Mikulski for her leadership on this bill, and Senator Harkin, Senator Alexander, and Senator Burr. This reauthorization has truly been a bipartisan effort and illustrative of the Senate HELP Committee's effectiveness this Congress, and I congratulate Senator Harkin on his leadership of this committee as he retires from Congress next month. Through the HELP Committee's leadership and work with their House counterparts, this legislation will serve to better support working families and children and make a significant improvement to our current childcare programs. The last time we authorized this program was in 1996. I know that very well because I was serving in the House of Representatives at the time and had the opportunity to be the ranking member on the Human Resources Subcommittee in the House Ways and Means Committee that was considering welfare reform and childcare, and how we could reward families for work, and how our welfare system could become a transitional program rather than a permanent program that would allow people, particularly moms, to be able to get into the workforce, stay in the workforce and climb up the economic ladder.…”