[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1531-S1532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT ACT OF 2014--MOTION TO PROCEED

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 309, S. 
1086, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the bill by 
title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 309, S. 1086, a bill to 
     reauthorize and improve the Child Care and Development Block 
     Grant Act of 1990, and for other purposes.


                                Schedule

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the 
Republican leader, the Senate will be in a period of morning business 
until 10:30 a.m., with the majority controlling the first half and the 
Republicans controlling the final half.
  Following morning business the Senate will proceed to executive 
session. At 10:30 a.m., there will be up to 6 rollcall votes on the 
confirmation of several executive nominations.
  Upon disposition of the nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to be Deputy 
Secretary of the Treasury, the Senate will begin consideration of S. 
1086, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act reauthorization 
bill.


         Measures Placed on the Calendar--S. 2110 and H.R. 4152

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, there are two bills at the desk due for a 
second reading.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will read the bills by 
title for the second time.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2110) to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the 
     Social Security Act to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth 
     rate, and for other purposes.
       An act (H.R. 4152) to provide for the costs of loan 
     guarantees for Ukraine.

  Mr. REID. I would object to anything at this time as to these two 
matters.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard. The bills will 
be placed on the calendar.


               Child Care and Development Block Grant Act

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, in our great country we think of a college 
education as the key to unlock our children's success. But many 
families in this country struggle to afford child care, leaving no 
money whatsoever for higher education.
  In 2011, in most States, 1 year of daycare for an infant was more 
expensive than 1 year of tuition at a public university.
  Let me repeat that. In America, in almost every State, 1 year of 
daycare is more expensive than 1 year of tuition at a public 
university. It is no wonder that middle-class families are struggling 
with sticker shock, and for many low-income families childcare is 
simply out of reach.
  For millions of families in the United States, childcare is their 
single largest household expense at nearly $15,000 a year. In an 
economy where most families have two working parents, childcare isn't a 
luxury, it is a necessity.
  That is why President Bush signed the first Child Care and 
Development Block Grant Act into law in 1990. He did this to ensure 
working families

[[Page S1532]]

have access to quality, affordable childcare.
  I thank HELP Committee Chairman Harkin and Senators Burr, Mikulski, 
and Alexander for their diligent bipartisan work to reauthorize this 
measure.
  The program serves more than 1.6 million children, including more 
than 7,300 in Nevada, making access to affordable, high-quality care 
possible. But the program serves only a fraction of the need. We should 
be doing more to guarantee every parent who wants to work can afford 
adequate supervision for their children and for every child, regardless 
of income, so that kids have a safe place to learn.
  This bipartisan measure is an investment in America's mothers, 65 
percent of whom work outside the home. Yet women earn less and are less 
likely to go back to work after having children--than men--in part 
because of the shortage of safe, affordable daycare.
  This program is helping millions of parents, and especially mothers, 
get back to work to help support their families. In the two decades 
since this important program was last authorized, we have learned a 
great deal about the importance of early childhood education and high-
quality childcare.
  This bipartisan measure builds on that knowledge, updates health and 
safety standards for childcare centers, and requires providers to 
undergo comprehensive background checks.
  This reauthorization is only the first step. I look forward to 
working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on the larger 
effort to broaden access to quality early childhood education.
  We are going to take up this bill later today. As I have said before, 
and I will say again so everyone understands, this is a bipartisan 
bill. I hope the managers of this bill will do everything they can to 
move this expeditiously through this body. But we are going to finish--
not finish it this week, but I prefer finishing it, and I hope we can 
do that.


                       Reservation of Leader Time

  Mr. REID. Would the Chair announce the business of the day.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
leadership time is reserved.

                          ____________________