[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 26, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S1494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. Casey, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Baldwin, 
        Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, Mr. Brown, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. 
        Cardin, Mr. Coons, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, 
        Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Harris, Ms. Hassan, Ms. 
        Klobuchar, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Markey, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Merkley, 
        Mr. Murphy, Mr. Peters, Mr. Reed, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Sanders, Mr. 
        Schatz, Mr. Schumer, Ms. Smith, Mr. Udall, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. 
        Warren, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 568. A bill to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant 
Act of 1990 and the Head Start Act to promote child care and early 
learning, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to express my 
support for the Child Care for Working Families Act, which I was proud 
to introduce earlier this afternoon with Senators Murray, Casey, and 30 
of our Senate colleagues.
  We know that investments in early childhood programs are foundational 
for future academic and social success. Yet child care remains 
unaffordable for too many working families in the United States.
  For parents worried about how to pay for basic living expenses like 
housing, food, education, and transportation, increasing child care 
costs can place a heavy burden on family budgets.
  As a young immigrant from Japan who was raised by a single, working 
mother, I understand the difficult decisions families have to make 
every day to survive. I have experienced these challenges firsthand. 
Yet, all these years later, for many Hawaii families, child care costs 
exceed all other expenses besides housing.
  On average, Hawaii parents can expect to pay $8,280 per year, or $690 
per month, in child care expenses. These costs are 25 percent higher 
than they were just a decade ago, but wages have hardly kept pace. As a 
result, Hawaii families will dedicate around 11 percent of their family 
budget to child care--exceeding the government's standard for 
affordable care.
  Unfortunately, even for families that can afford child care, finding 
that needed care may be difficult. This is because our early childhood 
educators and child care workers are overworked and underpaid. In 
addition, there is a severe need for more facilities to accommodate the 
families that need them. The need is great, and that is why the Child 
Care for Working Families Act is so important. This legislation will 
make sure working families have access to high-quality, affordable 
early childhood programs.
  Specifically, the bill expands the existing Child Care and 
Development Block Grant program to guarantee that working and middle 
class families have access to affordable child care--ensuring that 
these families do not have to pay more than 7 percent of their income 
toward care, regardless of how many children they have.
  The bill also expands Head Start to promote universal preschool for 
young children.
  Additionally, the bill also addresses the need to support our early 
childhood workers by making sure teachers, care givers, and other 
workers responsible for our children are fairly-compensated and fully-
supported with training and professional development opportunities.
  These are the core provisions of the bill, which represents an 
essential investment in the stability and prosperity of working 
families in Hawaii and across our Nation. Every family deserves access 
to high-quality, affordable early childhood programs, and we will 
continue fighting to make child care more affordable for all children.
  I thank my colleagues for their continued support in this effort, and 
urge support for this important legislation.

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