Sarah Elfreth: “we are taking up time on the floor today because, from coast to coast, I guarantee that we are all hearing the same…”

“we are taking up time on the floor today because, from coast to coast, I guarantee that we are all hearing the same message from our constituents: The cost of living is just too high. I feel it, too, as the daughter of a single mom who made everything work because of access to affordable childcare, as a millennial with student loan debt that I am still years away from paying off, and as a first-time homeowner who finally was able to buy a house in the district that I represent after renting for over two decades. This is something I believe everyone in this Chamber, Republicans and Democrats alike, can agree on: Congress must do more to cover the crushing costs of electric bills, groceries, prescription drugs, housing, and more. While I would love to take a full hour today running through what we can and should do on all these crises, I have only a few minutes to focus on one. Mr. Speaker, from my very first conversations 9 years ago, when I first asked my neighbors to place their trust in me to represent them, to even just this weekend at the grocery store, I have heard from parents, grandparents, and small businesses alike that the childcare crisis is suppressing our economy and forcing families to make impossible decisions. It is more expensive to send one infant to daycare than it is to send an 18-year-old to the University of Maryland. Like every State, Maryland saw devastating losses in childcare providers after the pandemic.”