[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 11, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6379-S6380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Ms. Collins, and Mrs. Hagan):
  S. 1494. A bill to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant 
Act of 1990 to improve child safety and reduce the incidence of 
preventable infant deaths in child care settings; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of myself and 
Senator Collins, to introduce the Child Care Infant Mortality Act. This 
is bipartisan legislation that would allow states participating in the 
Child Care Development Block Grant, CCDBG, to use part of this funding 
for child safety training.
  Currently, states participating in Child Care Development Block 
Grant, CCDBG, are required to set aside at least 4 percent of funds to 
improve the quality of the programs offered in their states. Our bill 
would simply ensure that strategies to enhance child safety, including 
disseminating information related to prevention strategies for sudden 
unexpected infant death, are included in as an allowable use of funds.
  According to the Centers for Disease Control, CDC, and the American 
Academy of Pediatrics, half of the approximately 4,500 SUID cases in 
the United States are entirely preventable with effective training and 
implementation of correct sleep practices. It is estimated that child 
care settings account for 20 percent of all SUID fatalities in the 
United States. Life-saving sleep strategies, first aid and CPR are 
successful in preventing infant death and are easily implementable; yet 
training is not currently an allowable use of funds under the Child 
Care and Development Block Grant Act.
  Nationally, over 4,500 infants die suddenly with no immediate obvious 
cause every year. These deaths are not highly publicized by the media 
because of the severe pain it causes families. A large percentage of 
child care providers are unaware of the risks of sleep associated 
infant deaths until they come face-to-face with a death of a child 
under their care. The more aware providers are of safe sleep practices, 
the more likely they are to follow suggested guidelines. In particular, 
posting safe-sleep practices and offering required training can further 
cut the number of infants we lose every year to sudden unexpected 
infant death. Beyond safe sleep practices, child care provider training 
in CPR and first aid will allow providers to identify and address 
potentially harmful situations for infants.
  The Child Care Infant Mortality Prevention Act of 2013 expands the 
list of allowable uses for CCDBG funding to permit states to use this 
funding on activities to improve child care quality. Our bill would 
also require the Secretary to update and make widely available-
training, instructional materials, and other information on safe sleep 
practices and other sudden unexpected infant death prevention 
strategies.
  I am proud that Senator Susan Collins has joined me as an original 
cosponsor of this bill.
  It is essential that this issue is addressed by building upon the 
existing structure and capacity of the networks of Child Care providers 
participating in the Child Care and Development Block Grant. It is 
critical that we work to ensure that child safety is a primary goal of 
the block grant, and that appropriate and adequate training on safe 
sleep practices, first aid, and CPR are included in the training 
regimen promoted by this Act.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1494

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Child Care Infant Mortality 
     Prevention Act of 2013''.

[[Page S6380]]

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) For millions of today's working families, child care is 
     an essential ingredient of their success. Child care helps 
     children, families, and communities prosper, and helps the 
     Nation maintain its competitive edge.
       (2) Close to 12,000,000 children under age 5, and 
     10,000,000 over the age of 5, are in some type of child care 
     setting each day.
       (3) More than 60 percent of children are cared for 
     regularly in a child care setting.
       (4) Recent polls of working parents found that parents are 
     primarily concerned about safety and quality of care, 
     followed by cost.
       (5) Nationally, the most common form of death among post-
     neonatal infants under age 1 is death occurring during sleep, 
     as a result of incorrect sleeping practices.
       (6) According to the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention, each year in the United States, more than 4,500 
     infants die suddenly of no immediately obvious cause. Half of 
     these sudden unexpected infant deaths are due to Sudden 
     Infant Death Syndrome, the leading cause of sudden unexpected 
     infant deaths and all deaths among infants who are not 
     younger than 1 month but younger than 12 months.
       (7) Researchers estimate that child care settings account 
     for at least 20 percent of sudden unexpected infant deaths in 
     the United States.
       (8) In its 2011 report on child care center licensing 
     regulations, Child Care Aware of America, formerly known as 
     the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral 
     Agencies, noted that--
       (A) extensive research and recommendations from 
     organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the 
     National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention favor 
     simple life-saving safe sleep strategies to eliminate serious 
     risk factors for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and sudden 
     unexpected infant death; and
       (B) the strategies noted in subparagraph (A) are not 
     universally required under the Child Care and Development 
     Block Grant Act of 1990 nor in the majority of State child 
     care regulations.

     SEC. 3. GOALS.

       Section 658A(b)(5) of the Child Care and Development Block 
     Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 note) is amended to read as 
     follows:
       ``(5) to ensure the health, safety, development and well-
     being of children in programs supported under this subchapter 
     and to assist States in improving the overall quality of 
     child care services and programs by implementing the health, 
     safety, licensing, and oversight standards established in 
     State law (including regulations).''.

     SEC. 4. APPLICATION AND PLAN.

       Section 658E(c)(2)(F) of the Child Care and Development 
     Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 6858c(c)(2)(F)) is amended 
     by striking clause (iii) and all that follows and inserting 
     the following:
       ``(iii) minimum health and safety training appropriate to 
     the provider setting, including training on cardiopulmonary 
     resuscitation, first aid, safe sleep practices and other 
     sudden unexpected infant death prevention strategies.''.

     SEC. 5. ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE CHILD SAFETY AND IMPROVE THE 
                   QUALITY OF CHILD CARE.

       Section 658G of the Child Care and Development Block Grant 
     Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``choice, and'' and inserting ``choice,''; 
     and
       (2) by striking the period and inserting ``training 
     (including training in safe sleep practices, first aid, and 
     cardiopulmonary resuscitation), and other activities designed 
     to ensure and improve the health and safety of children 
     receiving child care services under this subchapter.''.

     SEC. 6. DISSEMINATION OF MATERIALS AND INFORMATION ON SAFE 
                   SLEEP AND OTHER SUDDEN UNEXPECTED INFANT DEATH 
                   PREVENTION STRATEGIES.

       Section 658K of the Child Care and Development Block Grant 
     Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858i) is amended--
       (1) by striking the section header and inserting the 
     following:

     ``SEC. 658K. REPORTS, AUDITS, AND INFORMATION.''

     ; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Information on Sudden Unexpected Infant Death 
     Prevention Strategies.--The Secretary, working with the 
     Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
     and the Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National 
     Institute of Child Health and Human Development, shall--
       ``(1) update training, instructional materials, and other 
     information on safe sleep practices and other sudden 
     unexpected infant death prevention strategies; and
       ``(2) widely distribute the training, materials, and 
     information to parents, child care providers, pediatricians, 
     home visitors, community colleges, and other individuals and 
     entities.''.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. KIRK:
  S. 1496. A bill to enhance taxpayer accountability at public 
transportation agencies; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs.
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. President, I rise to address a crisis of confidence at 
Chicagoland's suburban commuter railroad--Metra. Metra plays a vital 
role for our area--reducing congestion and carrying thousands of 
suburban residents to and from Chicago each day. But recent 
developments highlight a troubled transit system and a misuse of public 
dollars.
  Earlier this summer it was reported that Metra CEO Alex Clifford 
received a severance package worth nearly $750,000 following 
allegations of political influence at the agency. Clifford received 
$442,237 alone just to buyout the remaining term of his contract, on 
top of $307,390 for an additional 12 months if he is unable to find new 
employment.
  This is a gross misuse of public dollars. With this action, Metra's 
former CEO makes more than President Obama, who currently makes 
$400,000 a year. I asked the Congressional Research Service how this 
golden parachute ranks compared to the annual salary of the top ten 
largest transit agencies in the country, and the results were 
surprising. Each of the top 10 largest transit systems pays their chief 
executive no more than $350,000, meaning Metra, the 24th largest 
transit agency in the country, had the highest earning CEO.
  Fortunately federal taxpayer dollars did not contribute to Clifford's 
golden parachute. But Metra is expected to receive more than $135 
million in federal capital dollars. If our local government bodies 
can't be trusted to be good stewards of the public, then the Congress 
should step in to put in place reasonable taxpayer protections.
  Today I have introduced the Public Transportation Accountability Act 
which for the first time will put limits on executive compensation at 
public transit agencies that receive federal funds. No executive or 
employee of a transit agency would be able to receive annual 
compensation that is greater than that of the President of the United 
States. This is a common sense bill that sadly is necessary to 
safeguard taxpayers' pocketbooks.

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