John Thune: “today I rise with my distinguished colleague from New York, Senator Clinton, to introduce legislation that will provide…”

“today I rise with my distinguished colleague from New York, Senator Clinton, to introduce legislation that will provide a surviving spouse with two years of child care eligibility on any military instillation or Federal facility with a child care center. The legislation was inspired by our work on the Senate Armed Services Committee. In February the committee held an important hearing on improving survivor benefits and the government's role in helping survivors cope with the loss of a loved one. All too often surviving spouses are forced to make difficult, life changing decisions alone. Both Senator Clinton and I are determined to provide as much help as possible to those who must bear the burden of loss, particularly those with young children. By providing two years of child care eligibility, our goal is to ensure that a surviving spouse has the time and tools necessary to make a healthy adjustment to life after the servicemember's death. Many decisions face survivors, most importantly, how to make a living. Often that means having to re-enter the work force after years of being a working mother. The question of how to adequately care for young children while trying to find employment or restart a career should not be an issue. Further, we have expanded this eligibility to include access to child care centers in other Federal facilities.…”