[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 30 (Wednesday, March 18, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               CHILD CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Tauscher) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, in honor of Women's History Month, I 
would like to take a moment to draw our attention to the issue of child 
care. There is general agreement in America that two of our most 
precious values are family and work.
  During the course of the last century, we have seen many changes in 
the way that we work and raise our families. One hundred years ago the 
vast majority of Americans were doing some kind of home-based work, 
such as working on a family farm. In those earlier years, extended 
family members could be counted on to help parents provide care for 
their children. But as we have become an increasingly mobile and 
quickly growing society, many of those traditional methods of child 
care are no longer an option.
  While most people would agree that it is preferable for a parent to 
stay home with his or her child, we all have to realize that most 
families simply do not have that option any longer. Today in America 
working families face a constant challenge of how to balance family and 
work. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to child care. But there 
are things as a Nation we can do at a Federal, state, and a community 
level to improve and enhance the quality of the care our children 
receive. We must empower parents with a variety of options, 
opportunities, and information and allow them to make their choices 
about which solution best suits their own family's needs.
  In the parts of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in California that 
I represent, roughly 60 percent of the women work outside of home, 
which requires most parents to search for quality child care. 
Nationwide only 7 percent of American families fit the old traditional 
model of a working dad and a stay-at-home mom, and 62 percent of the 
women in the entire American work force are working mothers.
  Finding the right information about child care can be difficult for 
many of these working families. In my district, we have wonderful 
groups, such as the Contra Costa Child Care Council, which helps 
parents find quality child care that is right for them. But, in 
general, getting information about the differences between nannies, au 
pairs, in-house care, day-care centers, work site centers, and 
babysitters can be daunting, if not impossible, and it is a task that 
overburdens many parents.
  There are a number of legislative options being offered to help 
families who have difficulty in finding and affording good child care. 
What we must remember is that no one single approach is better than 
another. Our goal must be to help parents find and afford the type of 
care that best suits their lifestyle and needs. For example, one family 
may benefit from a tax credit, while another family may want to use 
after-school care. We must work together to offer multiple solutions so 
that parents can choose for themselves.
  I strongly believe that the final child care package must be one that 
empowers parents and encourages public-private partnerships without 
creating another large bureaucracy. While we draw attention to child 
care during Women's History Month, we must also realize that child care 
is not just a women's issue; it is a family issue and in a sense a 
community issue.
  Children are our most precious asset; and from the very beginning, we 
must take the right steps to ensure that they are properly nurtured and 
cared for during the times we are with them and during the times we are 
unable to be with them. Our job now is to develop a child-care 
initiative that provides working families with the tools necessary to 
ensure quality and affordable care for every child in America that 
needs it.

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