[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 140 (Monday, November 17, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6005-S6006]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CCDBG PROGRAM

  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I come to the floor today because in just a 
little over 2 hours we are going to take up the Child Care and 
Development Block Grant Act of 2014. Let me explain what that is.
  The Child Care and Development Block Grant Program was created in 
1990 to provide a voucher to meet the childcare needs of families at 
risk of having to make the decision that one or both parents couldn't 
work because childcare had such a tremendous expense with it. We wanted 
those parents to be able to participate in the productive part of our 
economy and society.
  I can honestly say this is one of the most successful programs 
Congress has ever produced. The program, as is the case with every 
bill, is required to be reauthorized after a certain period of time. It 
was started in 1995--I might add the year I got here--and it was 
reauthorized in 1996. This was the last time this bill was ever 
reauthorized.
  Now, let me point out that authorization and funding are two 
different things. These vouchers have existed in the system but 
Congress has not reauthorized the program; therefore, we haven't 
changed the program since 1996. I ask my colleagues to stop for a 
moment and think about how society has changed since 1996. The world 
has changed since 1996. Things we took for granted in 1996 we need 
proof of today. Things we didn't worry about in 1996 we worry about 
today. Let me suggest that childcare is no different. There is still a 
need for some type of vouchers for families who are on the bubble, and 
I dare say that childcare has gotten incredibly expensive since 1996.
  I rise today to congratulate this body because this afternoon, in 
just under 2 hours, we are going to pass the first reauthorization of 
the Child Care Development Block Grant program since 1996. I will be 
really very honest; it wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for my partner 
in this endeavor, Barbara Mikulski. Senator Mikulski has been 
tenacious. She has stood by my side, and she has told me when she 
didn't think we should move forward, because as easy and as common 
sense as it sounds, it has been really difficult to get to this point. 
This has been a 3-year process. So for those who criticize Congress, 
let me assure those people, we have touched every base we can touch.
  Several years ago, while we served as chair and ranking member of the 
Subcommittee on Children and Families, Senator Mikulski and I promised 
at that time to address the shortcomings in the CCDBG Program so that 
children could attend childcare and their families could expect a 
healthy setting that fostered their development.
  Now, for years, we have heard stories about abuse and neglect in many 
childcare settings--stories that continue to break my heart and, I 
think, break the heart of every American. We saw numerous inspector 
general reports that documented unsafe conditions where children were 
neglected and Federal tax dollars were misused.
  Let me stop here and say this. Everything we do in this bill only 
applies to a childcare facility that accepts CCDBG money. They can be 
private institutions. They can be faith-based institutions. Their 
construction can be a combination of all of the above. If they accept 
one penny of CCDBG money, they are now required to meet the quality 
standards and safety standards we set in this bill. Now, in North 
Carolina, that covers practically every childcare facility. But in 
every State they don't go to the lengths we do in North Carolina nor 
that we go to in this piece of legislation. I hope my colleagues will 
go back to the States they hail from, and they will suggest that things 
such as background checks for workers at a childcare facility is common 
sense. To say to a parent who is dropping off a young child, whether 
the Federal Government subsidized with a voucher or not--that parent 
should feel 100-percent confident that the worker there is not a 
convicted felon, that they are not a drug addict, that they have passed 
the minimal background check that most of us would think is common 
sense.

  I might also take the opportunity to stop and say to the Presiding 
Officer, who represents Virginia, you might think--gosh, this is a 
financial burden on all childcare centers. No, this is a $15 investment 
in the safety of every child who is housed in their facility.

[[Page S6006]]

  For a program that in many States represents almost all the funding 
used for childcare subsidies, Senator Mikulski and I knew it was an 
obligation to act to reauthorize this law so appropriate boundaries 
were put in place. To continue to ignore these realities would have 
allowed Federal dollars to keep funding abuse, waste--taxpayers, 
parents, and children deserved our action.
  Since then, between the two of us and our staffs, we have held four 
HELP Committee hearings. We have 236 hours of negotiations. We have 
dozens of meetings with 44 advocacy organizations supporting this 
legislation. The Senate had 18 amendments considered and voted on in 
this institution, the Senate, back in March when the legislation passed 
this body of Congress 96 to 2. That was March.
  We are here today because the House changed the bill a little bit 
with our blessings, and this afternoon we are going to take up passage 
of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014.
  My hope is this is going to be a unanimous vote by the Senate.
  Bringing the HELP Committee together, as the Presiding Officer knows, 
is very difficult because of the diverse ideology of the makeup of 
members on the HELP Committee.
  It is no small feat we have gotten to this point, and we hold 
together the support of people who look at the world a little bit 
differently than I do and may geographically come from a different area 
than I do.
  I wish to publicly say thank you to Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member 
Alexander, Ranking Member Enzi before that, because if it wasn't for 
the leadership on the full committee, Senator Mikulski and I would not 
have had the opportunity to mark it up in committee, to pass it on the 
Senate floor, to work with the House, and now to have a bill back.
  As I conclude, let me just say for the 1.7 million children served 
nationally by CCDBG and the 80,000 served in my State of North 
Carolina, safe and quality childcare will now be a priority, ensuring 
working parents trying to better their lives and those of their 
children will feel safe using their Federal vouchers.
  In short, I urge my colleagues to unanimously support this 
legislation. We waited way too long since 1996 to make the commonsense 
changes that provide safety and quality in the childcare that we, the 
taxpayers, provide to those families on the bubble.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________