[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 4 (Thursday, January 7, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H162-H167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               CHILD CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman) 
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, a couple of decades ago support for 
child care fell under conservative attack. At the time, the argument 
went that offering low cost or free child care to working families 
would create an incentive for women to leave their homes and their 
traditional roles as caretakers.
  That argument attempted to capitalize on panic about the collapse of 
the so-called traditional families. But to be honest, I don't think it 
ever had teeth in the first place.
  The reason most women left home to enter the workforce, the real 
reason that countless women work today, is to make ends meet. In an 
economy that is built to work for corporations and their CEOs, working 
families have found themselves trying to stretch every dollar.
  The leadership of this House seems content to keep that struggle 
going. It is time to take a second look at policies that will help our 
middle class. It is time to stand up for high-quality child care, 
accessible and affordable for every family, and a childcare workforce 
that earns the pay they deserve.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to make something very clear. This is neither an 
isolated problem, nor is it one with limited impact. This is the new 
normal. In addition to outrageous costs, limited access to quality 
child care and pre-K means stunted development for children and further 
division between those with means and those without.
  If you have got the resources, child care that costs more than the 
median rent isn't a big deal. If you have got the resources, child care 
that costs more than tuition at a public college across more than half 
of the country isn't a big deal.
  If you have got the resources, you can give your child a leg up with 
pre-K and child care that sets them up for academic success, higher 
wages, and better jobs and careers.
  If you don't have these resources because you are working minimum-
wage jobs or your wages have been flat for years or you are one of the 
hundreds of thousands of Americans still unemployed, leaders in 
Congress say: Well, too bad about that. That is unacceptable.
  Mr. Speaker, the average cost of child care for a family with an 
infant and a 4-year-old is $17,755. In my State of New Jersey, the 
average cost for the same family would be $21,000.
  That price tag is outrageous, and it probably has quite a bit to do 
with why only 35 percent of pre-school-age children are currently 
enrolled in pre-K programs despite the benefits that pre-K offers.
  Ninety percent of brain development happens before the age of 5. 
Every dollar invested in early childhood education returns in public 
benefits. There are few better ways we can spend our money.
  Mr. Speaker, there is one more reason we are making this a priority. 
The teachers responsible for our youngest minds earn salaries that 
cannot cover the expenses of their own families. While first grade 
teachers earn roughly $45,000 annually, pre-K teachers earn only 
$27,000.
  These men and women hold one of the most important roles in our 
society and make some of the greatest impacts on our kids. They deserve 
pay that matches the value they offer.
  This issue has waited long enough for attention from this Nation's 
leaders. It is time for Congress to make sure that every family has 
access to child care and early childhood education.

[[Page H163]]

  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Bass).
  Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in calling 
for our fellow Members of Congress to come together to assist 
hardworking families and children.
  We need to act together to provide parents and caregivers with the 
resources necessary to ensure that every family has access to safe and 
affordable child care.
  Specifically today, I am speaking out for the over 157,000 children 
in the foster care system who are 5 years old or younger.
  Congress must face two important facts. The cost of child care is 
having a detrimental impact on working families, and it is our children 
who suffer as a result.
  In my home city of Los Angeles, it is estimated that an annual income 
of nearly $74,000 is necessary to secure a modest, yet adequate, 
standard of living for a two-parent, two-child family.
  In reality, some of the neighborhoods I represent have a median 
household income of less than $28,000 a year, which translates to more 
than $45,000 below what is needed for a modest standard of living.
  To make up this difference, far too many working families, especially 
single-parent families, are forced to put their children into 
inadequate child care, which is often what they can afford.
  After a baby is born, too many mothers and fathers must immediately 
return to work in order to pay bills, and one of those bills becomes 
skyrocketing childcare costs.
  In fact, there are many children who wind up in the foster care 
system because their parents have left them unsupervised because they 
had to make a choice: stay home because they didn't have child care or 
go to work and leave those children unattended. When parents make that 
decision, they can wind up then losing custody of their children to the 
foster care system.
  Last January President Obama took a bold step to support children and 
working families by proposing to expand access to high-quality child 
care for low-income families.
  In partnership with States, this investment will help over 1 million 
additional young children over the next decade by supporting States' 
efforts to build up the supply of quality child care available to low-
income families.
  One way to solve the childcare needs of working families is to 
arrange for someone other than parents to care for children. My home 
State of California has taken a different approach.
  For over a decade, California has offered paid family leave to help 
working families stay at home to take care of a new child. This law is 
not only helping mothers bond with their newborn children, but it is 
also enabling more and more men to take time off work when a child is 
born, ensuring that more fathers stay involved with their children's 
lives.

                              {time}  1900

  We can say we support families, but to truly put families first, 
Congress needs to come together to provide effective paid family leave 
to mothers and fathers when a baby is born.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. I thank the gentlewoman from California for all 
of the advocacy she represents for those young people, those children, 
who are most vulnerable to us.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield to the gentlewoman from 
Oregon (Ms. Bonamici), who is the sponsor of the Progressive Caucus' 
universal childcare resolution.
  Ms. BONAMICI. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  I also thank the gentlewoman from California for her wise remarks and 
for her leadership, especially on issues facing foster children in our 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to discuss a very important issue 
that affects many families across the country, and that is the need for 
affordable, quality child care and to encourage all of my colleagues to 
cosponsor House Resolution 386. This resolution, which I introduced in 
July, with the support of 27 original cosponsors, affirms the 
commitment of Congress to put high-quality child care within the reach 
of every hardworking family, regardless of how much one earns.
  Mr. Speaker, access to high-quality child care is essential to the 
well-being of children and families. Really, when we think about our 
economic future and about the quality of life in our communities, these 
are such important issues. I will share with you a real story.
  Deondre is a 9-year-old boy in Oregon who understands this issue 
well. He shared this experience with his childcare provider, Ms. Renee, 
who takes care of him and his brother while his mother goes to school 
and works.
  Deondre said: ``My mom works and goes to school. Sometimes she is 
done by 6:30, but, other days, she is not done until midnight... Ms. 
Renee,'' he says, ``picks both of us up from school, makes us dinner, 
helps us with homework, and puts us to bed.''
  Mr. Speaker, Deondre's story is just one example, but it illustrates 
the critical role that childcare providers play in children's lives, 
and it emphasizes the value of high-quality child care for working 
parents.
  It is pretty clear, though, that our policies have not kept pace with 
our changing family structure and with our evolving workforce. In more 
than 60 percent of the married couples with children in the United 
States, both parents are working. In more than 40 percent of 
households, mothers are the sole or primary breadwinners for the 
families, and 34 percent of children are living with an unmarried 
parent. Access to affordable, quality child care is critical to the 
stability of families and to the communities across the country.
  Childcare costs also affect children's well-being and the local 
economy. In Washington, D.C., for example, families pay more than 
$20,000 each year, on average, for a child's care; and in many States, 
including in my home State of Oregon, the cost of child care exceeds 
in-State tuition at public universities. We hear a lot about how rising 
tuition costs create barriers to accessing postsecondary education, and 
this, too, is a critical issue. I know many of my colleagues in both 
the House and the Senate--frankly, on both sides of the aisle--are 
eager to curb the cost of college to enable more students to get a 
higher education. Yet, in many places, the cost of caring for our 
infants often outpaces the cost of earning a university diploma.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to be addressing the soaring costs of child care 
with the same urgency with which we seek to rein in college costs. Just 
as shutting students out of college has tremendous economic 
consequences, the fact that families must spend a growing share of 
their incomes on child care also comes with consequences. This is going 
to require some long-term thinking, and we have to really look into our 
future as to what this investment means for our families.
  Sadly, but not surprisingly, low-income families tend to be the 
hardest hit by the rising costs of child care. Some families with 
limited means spend about 40 percent of their household incomes on 
child care, and some estimates suggest that the inability of employees 
to find reliable child care costs companies billions of dollars in lost 
output. We see some companies now having on-site child care--and that 
is great--but they are few and far between.
  The high cost of child care is truly an issue of equity. When 
families are forced to make sacrifices to care for young children, 
these sacrifices disproportionately fall upon women and people of 
color. A recent Pew Research study found that, over the last 15 years, 
the cost of child care has likely contributed to an increasing number 
of mothers who have to put their careers on hold. Of course, there is 
nothing wrong with parents who choose to stay home with their 
children--absolutely not, when that is their choice--but for many 
parents in low-income households, leaving jobs to care for children is 
not a choice. These parents cannot afford to work and pay for child 
care.
  What do they do?
  Before childcare costs became unaffordable, more mothers were joining 
the workforce, were pursuing careers, and were contributing to the 
financial stability of families. Additionally, the childcare field 
primarily employs women, many of whom are underpaid--probably most of 
whom are underpaid. In fact, a new Economic Policy Institute study 
found that childcare workers are approximately twice as likely as other 
workers to live below the poverty line.

[[Page H164]]

  When I went to college years ago, I had a friend who ran the 
childcare center at the university. He made a comment to me once that 
really stuck with me. He said that people pay more per hour to park 
their cars in the parking garage than they do to have them look after 
their children. Now, that is unacceptable. It is important to pay 
childcare workers well so we can recruit and retain great people to 
take care of our children, who are the next generation. Very few 
workers receive healthcare coverage or pension plans or any kind of 
retirement security. For many childcare workers who have children 
themselves, the cost of child care for their own children is truly out 
of reach.
  For many of our country's minority households, affordable child care 
is not only expensive, it is hard to find. The gap in wealth between 
White and Black households is the largest it has been in several 
decades. To exacerbate these challenges, low-wage jobs frequently have 
nontraditional schedules, which makes accessing high-quality child care 
especially difficult.
  Mr. Speaker, many families are caught in this financial trap of 
working parents who are struggling and who are doing their best. They 
are trying to make ends meet in the face of rising costs and stagnant 
wages, but they are forced to choose between leaving the workforce to 
care for their children, which can push their families closer to 
poverty, and handing over their paychecks to cover the cost of child 
care, which has a similar result on their household finances.
  In reality, there is no easy solution for these distressed families--
distressed and stressed, I might add. More than 60 percent of young 
children attend child care so that their working parents can earn a 
living. At the same time, child care costs more than $10,000 a year in 
many places--here in D.C., it is even more--and it too often rises 
faster than household incomes; but the problems caused by unaffordable 
child care extend beyond family finances.

  High-quality early childhood education produces many benefits for 
children that continue well into the future, and this is that long-term 
investment that I am talking about. Children who access these programs 
see long-term benefits, including success in school, improved 
employment outcomes, and good health. When families can't access those 
high-quality childcare programs, their children may lose access to some 
of the benefits of early learning, like developing literacy and 
teamwork skills.
  Congress does have a role to play in addressing these problems, and 
this is one of the most important investments we can make in our 
future. We must advance these existing programs that are effective at 
supporting working families and that are preparing children for success 
down the road.
  Head Start is an example of one such program. It serves, roughly, a 
million low-income people--more than 12,000 in my home State of Oregon. 
For each of these children and families, Head Start provides a quality 
early childhood education and increases access to health insurance, 
housing assistance, and job training. If you have never visited one of 
your Head Start facilities in your district, I encourage you to do so. 
They are really working hard to engage the families and to really get 
that early learning.
  The benefits of Head Start for families and children are well-
documented. Last year, more than 200,000 families in Head Start 
received job training and adult education services, and studies show 
that children in Head Start are better prepared for kindergarten and 
that they make gains in learning and in social-emotional development. 
Preschool Development Grants, including a new program that just passed 
recently as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act, will help States to 
improve access to early childhood education programs.
  Ultimately, Mr. Speaker, Congress needs to do its part to promote 
universal prekindergarten programs. On a related note, my State of 
Oregon is instituting full-day kindergarten next year, and Congress 
should consider how it can support similar efforts in other States.
  Also, Federal child nutrition programs, including the Child and Adult 
Care Food Program, increase children's access to nutritious meals. We 
expect children to learn and to do well and to thrive, but if they are 
hungry, they can't do that, Mr. Speaker. The Child and Adult Care Food 
Program can help to deflect some of the childcare costs that are passed 
down to parents while also encouraging healthy eating habits and 
supporting children's development.
  I have introduced the Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act. This 
is a bipartisan bill that makes commonsense, positive changes to the 
Child and Adult Care Food Program. This bill will encourage more 
childcare providers to participate in the program, which, in turn, 
means that more American children will receive nutritious meals and 
that more childcare providers will receive support to provide those 
meals--again, getting a good, healthy start for those kids in our 
communities.
  The Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act also authorizes 
childcare providers to offer additional healthy meals or snacks. Many 
working families rely on full-day care, but the Child and Adult Care 
Food Program only supports two meals a day. A child who is in care all 
day--sometimes until 8 p.m. or even later--needs to get a nutritious 
meal in the evening. That is good for kids, it is good for families, 
and it is good for our future.
  Prekindergarten and child nutrition programs are examples of how the 
Federal Government and we in Congress are playing an important and 
effective role in supporting working families and in investing in 
better outcomes for those families in the future; but, Mr. Speaker, we 
certainly could be doing more. Congress should promote fair work 
schedules, paid time off for parents and caregivers, which my State 
just did at the State level, and higher wages for working families, 
including for people who work in the childcare field.
  I want to add, Mr. Speaker--and my colleague from California 
mentioned this--that many moms now go back to work within 2 weeks of 
giving birth. For those women here who are listening and who have given 
birth, you know how challenging that is for families. Twenty-five 
percent of women in this country go back to work 2 weeks after giving 
birth. We are the only industrialized country in the world that does 
not offer paid leave for women who have children. We need to change 
that and get a better start for our kids, for our moms, and we need to 
respect those working families.
  As we continue to pursue efforts to make child care affordable for 
all families, I encourage my colleagues to cosponsor H. Res. 386. Let's 
show our support for our country's childcare workforce, its children, 
its hardworking families, and the future of our families and our 
country.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. I thank the gentlewoman from Oregon very much 
for her work, for her resolution, and for her advocacy.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Fattah).
  Mr. FATTAH. Let me thank the gentlewoman who has organized this 
Special Order.
  There is no greater cause that could be the focus of our attention in 
this august body than that of future generations of Americans. Too much 
time is focused on the next election, so I want to thank the 
gentlewoman from New Jersey for focusing the House today on the next 
generation.
  Mr. Speaker, with certainty, we know that early childhood, quality 
daycare, and early education are the fundamental building blocks. We as 
a nation are competing with countries like China and India, which have 
very populated nations. We need to make sure that every single American 
child has the ability to rise up to his potential so that our Nation 
can remain number one in the world.
  I serve on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, Education, and Related Agencies. In the last couple of weeks, 
we have done our work and have passed the appropriations bill, and, 
this year, we have made some progress. I first want to talk about the 
good news.

                              {time}  1915

  We did appropriate $2.7 billion for the Child Care and Development 
Block Grant, and we increased it over last year, FY15, by $326 million. 
Now, that is the good news. The problem, of

[[Page H165]]

course, is that we still are a far cry away from providing for every 
family that will be eligible opportunities at affordable child care.
  Let me give you a ``for instance'' closer to home. I represent the 
birthplace of our democracy, Philadelphia. I think it is one of the 
greatest cities in the world. We spent about $300 million this year on 
Head Start and childcare activities, almost all of it Federal money; 
$190 million are coming out of the Child Care Block Grant I referenced 
earlier, some $300 million. We are only providing for 33 percent of the 
families in Philadelphia who would be eligible for child care through 
this effort. So we need to do more.
  Hopefully, the city and the State will be partners in this effort, 
but our Nation has to see this, as President Nixon once said, as a 
national imperative, that is, that we have a national interest in every 
one of these children living up to their potential.
  Now, 2 years ago, in a series done by WHYY and NewsWorks, they 
focused on child care. They told this story on one occasion about a 
young lady by the name of Queen Muse who was getting her degree from La 
Salle University, taking graduate courses. She was working very, very 
hard. She was rising at a very early hour to drop off her young 
daughter at a family member's home because she couldn't afford 
appropriate child care and affordable child care.
  Now, here is someone doing what we want them to do, getting a college 
education, getting a graduate degree. We need to be doing more to 
provide those early rungs on the ladder of opportunity for those who 
are in the early stages of family formulation and, in some cases, who 
are raising children as single parents. So there is much more that we 
can do.
  In Philadelphia, we have a system that, even though not perfect, is 
working very well. I know through CCIS out on Greene Street in 
northwest Philadelphia, there is an opportunity where families and 
parents can get access to quality child care, federally funded as a 
contractor with the Urban League. Again, we need to do more, and that 
is why I came here to the floor this evening.
  Now, I know that the Nation is preparing for the President's town 
meeting on guns tonight, and that is another issue related to families 
and family safety. We totally support the President's efforts in that 
regard, and I am going to work with the administration as a member of 
the Appropriations Committee to help fund those gun safety activities.
  In terms of child care, this is about families also, and making sure 
that the youngest among us have every opportunity to learn and to grow. 
In fact, we know through the work we have done on brain science now 
that, as the Congresswoman from New Jersey says, this is the period of 
time in which the brain is like a sponge. It can learn almost anything. 
We should be doing so much more in our early childhood efforts, in our 
childcare efforts to develop the language skills and the reading skills 
for these young people as the basic building blocks for their lifelong 
education
  So I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and much more importantly, I 
thank her for her extraordinary leadership on the most important issue 
in our Nation, and that is the preparation of future generations of 
American leaders.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania for his wise words and the wisdom that has come with this 
experience.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman 
from New Jersey for her continued leadership as she brings those of us 
in the Congressional Progressive Caucus to the floor to speak on issues 
of concern for the American people.
  Let me also thank the gentlewoman from Oregon for her leadership. I 
am delighted to be an original cosponsor of her very important 
legislation that is championed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus 
that is really demanding and calling for high quality, guaranteed, 
affordable, and accessible child care for every American family and a 
strong childcare workforce that is paid a living wage, at least $15 an 
hour, and has a voice on their job.
  I have alongside of me just a picture of children that may be any 
child here in America, happy and smiling. Mr. Speaker, that is why we 
are standing on the floor of the House today, because as Americans and 
as Members of the United States Congress it is our responsibility to be 
able to provide for the happiness and smiling of our children.
  So I tell a story, as I begin my remarks, on the importance of this 
Special Order and the importance of child care. Just a few years ago in 
my area in Houston, parents got a call that no parent wants to receive. 
These were parents of little children, and they got a call to come 
rushing to their daycare center. They were rushing because their 
daycare center was on fire.
  The tragedy is a young woman who had this business, whose family gave 
her this business so that she could have something to do and an income, 
had stepped away and went to a store and left little children under the 
age of 5 alone by themselves while a boiling pot of some form of food 
was on the stove. What happened was obviously that the pot caught fire 
and babies lost their lives, babies who could not move or help each 
other. She came rushing back with great remorse and emotion, but those 
babies were gone.
  That is the story of child care, Mr. Speaker. It is so very important 
that every child has the potential for greatness, and that is why child 
care is so important. In today's economy, the need for child care is a 
reality for the vast majority of families, but most working parents 
can't afford it, even while childcare teachers are not even paid 
enough. Childcare teachers are struggling themselves and can't provide 
for their own children. Low wages and a lack of benefits lead in the 
high turnover.
  In the instance of childcare centers across America, many of them are 
unregulated. Additionally, parents are struggling. On average, center-
based child care for two children can cost more than rent or mortgage 
in every State. No one who works hard should have the downside as they 
care for other's children to not be able to care for theirs.
  In 2011, 49 percent of children ages zero to 4 with employed mothers 
were primarily cared for by a relative, their father, grandparents, 
sibling, other relative, or mother, primarily because they could not 
afford other sources. Center-based care was 26 percent. Grandparents 
was 21 percent. Other relatives was 6 percent.
  Over 8 million children live in a single-parent household. Seventy-
six percent of these single-parent households were employed. Sixty-
seven percent of women in the workforce had a child under the age of 6. 
Thirty percent of women work at night and have a child under the age of 
5. Twenty-nine percent of children in need of child care have multiple 
arrangements for child care that can include relatives or skilled 
childcare services. Sixteen percent of children in need of childcare 
services live in poverty.
  The high cost of child care, the cost of full-time infant care across 
the United States in 2012 ranged from $4,600 to $20,000. Mr. Speaker, 
that is more sometimes than a part-time worker makes or even a full-
time worker makes. That is saying to the American people, to women, to 
fathers, and to grandparents that we do not care about your children. 
The cost of full-time care for a 4-year-old ranged from $3,900 to 
$15,000, and the cost of before- and afterschool programs ranged from 
$1,950 to $10,000.
  It is important, as we stand on the floor today, to make this 
statement: that guaranteed child care is really a necessity. It is a 
right. Why? Because I remember the Declaration of Independence, though 
not the Constitution, that talks about the pursuit of happiness. What 
more pursuit of happiness is there than to ensure that the children who 
are pictured here on this poster board have the right and opportunity 
to quality child care and for parents to not have that very devastating 
call, the call a parent who is doing everything they can to provide for 
the family to rush away from their job because their babies had died in 
a raging fire because an unregulated childcare provider left to go 
shopping while a food pot was burning on the stove?
  Recently, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services 
began

[[Page H166]]

a ``Don't Be in the Dark Campaign'' to educate the parents about the 
dangers of placing children in unregulated child care in Texas. The 
importance of regulated child care becomes unavoidably clear when one 
considers the fact that 13 children died in unregulated care. In 2006, 
18 children died in unregulated care in the State of Texas.
  In order to stop deaths like this, we need universal care, we need 
quality care, we need teachers and workers who love what they are doing 
as they do, but are paid a livable wage, $15, so they too can provide 
for their families.
  Unfortunately, safe and affordable child care is not available as 
much as it should be in the State of Texas. Many working parents rely 
on State-subsidized care to meet their needs. In 2007, the Statewide 
waiting list for subsidized care was 17,000 in January, and it moved to 
46,000 in October.
  So it is important to note, for example, in Austin, it costs about 
$43 a day to provide for full daycare for a toddler. However, the State 
will only pay a small amount.
  So this is a very important Special Order. It is to reinforce the 
fact that our obligation is to safely secure our children and to 
include our children in the constitutional rights, if you will, of 
providing for them the sense of a quality of life that is worthy of 
them as the future of our Nation.
  I join with my colleagues in speaking about and supporting this 
resolution, but I also join with them to support the full funding of 
Head Start. Many times we will see that those who were a part of Head 
Start, in fact, Head Start was very important to their growth and their 
progress.
  I also want to include these agencies in my community, AVANCE and 
Neighborhood Centers, and say that if we had the universal access to 
child care, many faith institutions and others could be part of 
regulated, certified, clean child care that could be made more 
reasonable for those working parents who work very odd hours and work 
into the night and early morning and need the kind of around-the-clock 
child care that is so necessary.
  So I want to thank Congresswoman Watson Coleman for her leadership, 
and I leave this podium again by saying every child in America is 
precious. Even as we hear those discussing issues of choice and issues 
that sometimes women have to make, we know that we love our children. 
Why don't we, as the children are here, as they are toddlers and 
infants and growing up, make sure that no child goes longing for love, 
for food, for resources, and no child goes longing for quality child 
care.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas 
for her leadership and her commitment to every child in this country.
  I yield to my colleague from Virginia (Mr. Scott), who is ever 
vigilant and diligent as it relates to preparing, educating, and 
ensuring our better generations to come.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Watson Coleman for 
her leadership on all of these issues, particularly education.
  There is a growing bipartisan understanding that in order for our 
Nation's children, especially those in low-income communities, to 
fulfill their potential and succeed in college and career, that we must 
expand access to affordable, high-quality, early learning 
opportunities.
  Decades of research shows that properly nurturing children in early 
years of life supports enhanced brain development, cognitive 
functioning, and emotional and physical health. Research has also shown 
that one investment that leads to better educational outcomes, stronger 
job earnings, and lower crime rates is quality early learning programs. 
These programs help prevent and reduce achievement gaps for low-income 
students and create long-term benefits for our Nation, such as lower 
crime rates, lower teen pregnancy rates, and higher high school 
graduation rates.

                              {time}  1930

  Yesterday I attended a screening of the documentary ``The Raising of 
America,'' which explained the challenges working families have in 
raising children and helping them succeed. Even though there is nearly 
universal understanding of the importance of high-quality, early-
learning opportunities, many families are not able to afford or access 
these opportunities. As the documentary clearly explained, working 
families are more productive than ever, but our Nation lacks the 
Federal policies that these families need in order to better balance 
their work and family responsibilities.
  For example, unpredictable, unstable schedules place an undue burden 
on working families, impacting their ability to maintain child care. We 
are among the richest nations in the world. The United States is the 
only such nation that does not provide paid leave to families to invest 
time in early development of their children. The United States doesn't 
even provide universal access to quality, affordable child care. This 
is simply unacceptable.
  The Democrats on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce 
have been working with our colleagues in the Democratic Caucus on a 
working families agenda. This agenda supports families by giving them 
the tools that they need to better balance work and family.
  The working families agenda calls for commonsense policies, such as 
paid sick leave, paid family leave, and access to universal, high-
quality child care to help balance work and family responsibilities. In 
addition, it supports increased wages by calling for an increased 
minimum wage and legislation to reduce discrimination in the workforce.
  But access to high-quality child care is an integral part of the 
working family's agenda. In the recently passed spending bill, we 
increased funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grants by 
$326 million. This increase is a strong, positive step in the right 
direction, but we must build on this effort.
  That is because over 20 States cannot serve all of the eligible 
families, and some States aren't even accepting eligible participants 
to sign up on their wait list. Now, we are not talking about whether 
the child is eligible or not or whether they receive it, but whether a 
child can even be placed on a wait list to hope for funding.
  If we want parents to work and we want children to be able to 
determine their futures, if we want strong and stable families, we must 
provide these families with access to high-quality child care and other 
early-learning opportunities. These efforts are a national priority, 
and all children deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential.
  Again, I want to thank you for your leadership for bringing this 
issue to a Special Order.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Congressman, thank you for taking your time and 
sharing with us.
  We are all familiar with the phrase, ``putting your money where your 
mouth is.'' Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago we voted for a bill to fund 
government programs and extend tax cuts. While that bill was an 
important step forward compromise, it was far from perfect. It put our 
environment at risk by selling petroleum overseas and made countless 
tax breaks for multinational corporations and special interests 
permanent. Although it did extend programs like the child tax credit, 
it didn't do nearly enough to protect working families or ensure a 
bright future for our Nation. We are in a new year, and we have got a 
chance for a fresh start, so let's make affordable child care part of 
that new start.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to switch gears now and discuss an equally 
important topic that those in control of this House have tried to 
ignore, a topic that the President took action on this week.
  Gun violence is one of the greatest challenges this Nation faces. 
Over the past 10 years, we have lost more than 100,000 people to guns. 
Millions more have been victims of assaults, of robberies, and of other 
crimes where a gun was involved, and many of the individuals in 
possession of these weapons shouldn't have had them in the first place.
  Three years since Newtown, just over a month since San Bernardino and 
Colorado Springs, and with the dark memories of shootings of every 
scale in every city hovering over us constantly, it is time for change. 
Gun violence in the United States runs the gamut of motivations--from 
mental illness, to religious extremism, to political extremism, to 
disastrous accidents--but they all involve a firearm.

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  Many of these incidents are suicide, but they are all linked by the 
simple fact that they involve a firearm because in the United States of 
America a group of ideologues have hidden behind misguided readings of 
the Constitution and make guns available to everyone imaginable, even 
folks on the terrorist watch list.
  The reality is that gun violence is an epidemic, and the NRA, along 
with those who blindly follow it, are deeply out of touch. When another 
tragedy strikes, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle reliably 
call for moments of silence right here on the floor. While I support 
remembering victims, I cannot support silence where action is needed. 
Silence, Mr. Speaker, is what keeps weapons on our streets. Silence is 
the reason we have lost friends, sons, daughters, brothers, and 
sisters. Silence is why we are the only developed nation in the world 
with this problem.
  The President has put forward a set of executive actions that make 
sense at the most basic level, from strengthening background checks and 
bolstering enforcement to improving mental health services and research 
on gun safety. The simple, commonsense measures President Obama 
announced this week will save countless lives.
  It is now up to us here in Congress to take the baton. Mr. Speaker, 
it is common sense that someone who is not allowed to fly because they 
are a suspected terrorist shouldn't be able to get a gun. It is common 
sense to ensure a standard uniform background check before someone can 
purchase a weapon. It is common sense that you should have to present 
identification to buy bullets, and it is time for our colleagues to 
stand up for common sense.
  As the President said, we need to do it with the fierce urgency of 
now.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________