[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H10772]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         DEPENDABLE, AFFORDABLE, HIGH-QUALITY CHILD CARE NEEDED

  (Mrs. CLAYTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, as we are about to adjourn this year, we 
have many issues that remain to be dealt with, but one in particular I 
want to lift up is the whole issue of child care.
  Recently, the President had a conference on child care, and certainly 
child care is an important, needed commodity for millions of children 
whose parents work outside the home. I am delighted that the President 
indeed focused the administration on this issue, but I am also saddened 
that we have not gone further here in Congress ourselves.
  More than 12 million children under the age of 5, including half of 
the infants under the age of 1 year of age, spend at least part of 
their day each day away from their home. A well trained, competent 
child care provider is crucial to the health and the welfare of our 
children. There are millions of additional children under the age of 12 
in the United States who are in some form of child care at the 
beginning or at the end of their school day. Working parents, 
regardless of their income, including working parents of poor and 
welfare-to-work, are beginning to find it far more difficult to find 
high quality day care.
  The availability of child care that is reliable and convenient is 
essential if we are going to have opportunities for our children.

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