Herb Kohl: “my thanks to the chairman and ranking member for their hard work on the District of Columbia appropriations bill and for…”

“my thanks to the chairman and ranking member for their hard work on the District of Columbia appropriations bill and for working with me on an amendment of vital importance to the children and families of the District. I am very pleased that they have agreed to accept my amendment which would allow the District to increase the number of monitors and inspectors responsible for upholding safety and quality standards in day-care centers and home-care operations across the city. Mr. President, in early October we all had the occasion to read an extremely troubling article on the front page of the Washington Post. As part of a series on welfare reform implementation, the Post discussed the deplorable and unsafe conditions at many District day-care facilities. Many of the problems could be traced to the fact that the people and resources dedicated to overseeing child care centers in the District are woefully inadequate. We learned that of the approximately 350 public day-care centers in the District of Columbia, more than half are operating without proper licenses. The primary inspection agency has been without a supervisor for almost a year and a half. There are only five inspectors charged with issuing and enforcing licenses to District child care centers, and only three people in charge of certifying which centers should be eligible for public funds.”