[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 154 (Friday, September 26, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S9685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. LINCOLN (for herself, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Pryor):
  S. 3620. A bill to amend the Social Security Act to enable States to 
carry out quality initiatives, and for other purposes; to the Committee 
on Finance.
  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today with my colleague, Senator 
Blanche Lincoln to introduce a very important bill for our Nation's 
working families, the Child Care Investment Act of 2008. Throughout our 
Nation, so many families today are struggling to provide for their 
families. One important action we can take to support working parents 
is to help ensure that their children are taken care of in safe and 
affordable childcare, and, most importantly, that this childcare is 
available to them. Unfortunately, we know that so many families are not 
able to access childcare, much less childcare that is high quality. 
This leads some to leave their children with unqualified caregivers, 
and, too often, in a dangerous situation.
  Because families were facing such dire shortages of affordable child 
care, Congress developed the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 
of 1990 that founded the CCDBG program. Since that time, this program 
has benefited low-income families by providing them with the help they 
need to remain employed, care for their children and have the peace of 
mind that their children are being well cared for. However, much more 
can be done to support and increase the funding for this important 
program. Recently, the National Association of Child Care Resource and 
Referral Agencies, NACCRRA, released a report on the cost of child care 
for parents in our Nation.Their findings were startling and further 
underline the call to action that Senator Lincoln and I feel is 
necessary for working parents. The NACCRRA report says that the cost of 
child care is rising at nearly twice the rate of inflation in most 
states. In fact, my home state of Oregon is the ninth least affordable 
state for infant care in a child care center. They found that in 
Oregon, on average, nearly 46 percent of a single parent's salary goes 
towards child care for an infant. This study also found that in every 
region of our Nation, child care costs more than food.
  During difficult economic times, the resources of families in our 
Nation become even more stretched. Decisions are often made within 
family budgets and sacrifices are made during times of lean. However, 
we owe it to our Nation's children to ensure that they are safe and 
cared for by responsible care providers while their parents work. Low-
income parents should not be placed in a situation when they have to 
choose between their job and the safety of their children.
  The bill that Senator Lincoln and I are introducing today will work 
to ensure more quality children care is available as the cost of this 
care increase and family budgets are squeezed. This bill will increase 
funding for the CCDBG program from $2.9 billion to $4 billion. It will 
also incorporate new quality goals for States to ensure quality care is 
given to our Nation's children.
  I thank Senator Lincoln for her continuing commitment to this issue 
and to children in our Nation and ask my colleagues for their support 
of this legislation and quick passage.
                                 ______