William Helms: “the amendment at the desk extends the life of a program that is essential to thousands of American working parents. It…”

“the amendment at the desk extends the life of a program that is essential to thousands of American working parents. It extends the operations of the United States Information Agency's Au Pair program for another 4 years, through the end of fiscal year 1999. Mr. President, the Au Pair program provides families with two working parents a perfect alternative to day care. It allows these families to invite young people from other countries into their homes, for a year at a time, to live and work. The families and the au pairs, thus, live together while each teaches the other about their respective cultures; in return, the family's children receive exceptional care and the young au pairs experience a year in the United States while living with an American family. Earlier this year the members of the Foreign Relations Committee adopted a provision that would have extended the life of this program for another 4 years, just as the pending amendment does. The committee-adopted provision, however, is still pending in the committee's authorization bill which the Senate has yet to consider fully. Since the authority to continue this program expires on September 30 of this year, the Senate must take immediate action. One may ask why I offer a 4-year extension of this program. The answer is twofold: First, the authorizing committee made the decision to extend it for 4 years and, second, so that we can put this issue to rest for at least one additional authorization cycle.”