Robert Smith: “Renee, like many mothers and fathers, sees most government spending as "day care" and not "child care." Child care, she…”

“Renee, like many mothers and fathers, sees most government spending as "day care" and not "child care." Child care, she says, is something that every family does. Day care is the activity undertaken out of either preference or necessity that some families are able to choose or forced to choose. A recent Wirthlin poll shows that care by a child's own parent or immediate family member is rated as the most desirable form of child care, with child care by a family's mother ranking the highest. Census Bureau statistics show that many families--nearly half of those with children under 6 years of age--pass up a second income and care for their children themselves, and yet where is the tax relief to help ease the burden of child care expenses for families that choose to take care of their children in their homes? It simply is not there. This legislation will eliminate the current discriminatory tax policy and replace it with one that is fair to all families regardless of the child care choices they make. I hope many of my colleagues can join in supporting this legislation. I know it competes with many other proposals, but I, frankly, can think of no greater priority that we ought to have than helping mothers and fathers take care of their children, for truly the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that controls the future. There is no more important responsibility that any of us as mortals undertake than to rear a child.”