[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 38 (Monday, March 1, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S961-S963]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 85--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT IT IS THE 
 DUTY OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO DRAMATICALLY EXPAND AND STRENGTHEN 
                            THE CARE ECONOMY

  Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Merkley) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                               S. Res. 85

       Whereas the preamble of the Constitution of the United 
     States cites the duty to ``promote the general Welfare'', 
     establishing care for the people of the United States as one 
     of the pillars of our system of government;
       Whereas, even before the novel coronavirus disease 2019 
     (COVID-19) pandemic, and the recession it triggered--
       (1) the United States was experiencing profound crises of 
     care and well-being; and
       (2) critical public services and programs in the United 
     States were underresourced or nonexistent;
       Whereas we are interdependent and, at various stages of 
     life, everyone will give or receive care;
       Whereas care work makes all other work possible, and the 
     economy of the United States cannot thrive without a healthy 
     and robust foundation of care for all people;
       Whereas over 3,700,000 children are born every year in the 
     United States, and about 10,000 people in the United States 
     reach retirement age each day;
       Whereas nearly 20,000,000 adults in the United States have 
     long-term care needs arising from old age or a disability;
       Whereas, in 2019, more than 1 out of 5 adults in the United 
     States had been an unpaid caregiver for an adult family 
     member or friend, or for a child with disabilities, in the 
     preceding 12 months;
       Whereas 60 percent of unpaid caregivers worked for pay 
     outside the home, and most were women;
       Whereas over 3,000,000 children and young people in the 
     United States had also been caregivers for adults;
       Whereas, in 2019, women in the United States spent an 
     average of nearly 4 hours per day on unpaid care work and 
     housework, 57 percent more hours than men;
       Whereas just as our country's physical infrastructure is 
     crumbling, the Federal and State programs constituting our 
     care infrastructure are an outdated patchwork, and quality 
     care is inaccessible for millions of people in the United 
     States;
       Whereas the United States does not guarantee paid time off 
     to give and receive care, and is the only industrialized 
     country in the world without a national paid family and 
     medical leave program;
       Whereas, in 2018, only 17 percent of the United States 
     workforce had access to paid family leave through their 
     employer;
       Whereas the median cost of a private room in a nursing home 
     facility is $105,850 per year;
       Whereas childcare is the highest household expense for 
     families in much of the United States, and public childcare 
     assistance is limited;
       Whereas Medicaid--
       (1) covers long-term care needs, but with strict income and 
     asset eligibility requirements; and
       (2) has an institutional bias, requiring State programs to 
     cover care in congregate facilities, while home and 
     community-based services are optional and limited;
       Whereas Medicare generally does not cover long-term 
     services and supports;
       Whereas only 7 percent of individuals in the United States 
     aged 50 or older are covered by private long-term care 
     insurance, which is often prohibitively expensive;
       Whereas, in 2019, nearly 30,000,000 people, including 
     4,400,000 children, did not have health insurance in the 
     United States, over half of them people of color, and tens of 
     millions more people were underinsured;
       Whereas the median annual pay of childcare and home care 
     workers is $25,510 and $17,200, respectively, leading to high 
     turnover and reliance on public assistance;
       Whereas childcare workers are 95 percent women, and home 
     care workers are 87 percent women, both disproportionately 
     people of color and immigrants;
       Whereas, in 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor 
     Statistics, 8 percent of health care support workers and 3.6 
     percent of personal care and service workers were members of 
     unions;
       Whereas these conditions have historical roots, as--
       (1) in the decades following the abolition of slavery in 
     the United States, Black people primarily worked as domestic 
     and agricultural laborers; and
       (2) during the New Deal-era, domestic and agricultural 
     workers were excluded from social programs and labor 
     protections, particularly those created by--
          (A) the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.);
          (B) the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et 
     seq.); and
          (C) the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 
     et seq.);
       Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored that 
     frontline work, including direct care, childcare, nursing, 
     health care, public and community health, mental health, 
     domestic, social assistance, education, service, retail, 
     delivery, food, restaurant, agricultural, and other work, is 
     essential to the functioning and flourishing of the United 
     States, and to the care of all people;
       Whereas, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been 
     necessary for frontline workers to engage in numerous strikes 
     and work stoppages to obtain safe workplaces, personal 
     protective equipment, the right to shelter in place, and 
     other basic protections;
       Whereas domestic workers, mostly from the global South, 
     were the most common victims of labor trafficking reported in 
     the United States between 2007 and 2017;
       Whereas care and domestic workers who are migrants or 
     immigrants are especially likely to face wage theft, abuse, 
     and other forms of exploitation;
       Whereas hospitals in the United States are understaffed, 
     and most of the country does not require minimum nurse-to-
     patient ratios that save lives;
       Whereas health care and social assistance workers suffer 
     from the highest rates of injuries due to workplace violence;
       Whereas the closure of rural hospitals is accelerating, and 
     135 rural hospitals have closed since 2010;
       Whereas Black, Latino, and Indigenous people have all been 
     more than twice as likely to die of COVID-19 than White 
     people;
       Whereas adults receiving long-term care in institutional 
     settings represent less than 1 percent of the United States 
     population, but account for more than one-third of COVID-19 
     deaths in the United States as of the date of introduction of 
     this resolution;
       Whereas the decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
     States in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999), established 
     the right of people with disabilities to be independent and 
     supported in their homes and communities;
       Whereas lack of access to technology and broadband internet 
     among people of color, low-income and rural communities, 
     older adults, and people with disabilities has negatively 
     impacted the well-being of those people, particularly during 
     the COVID-19 pandemic;
       Whereas, on any given night in 2019, well over 550,000 
     people were unhoused in the United States;
       Whereas, in 2019, in the United States, 1 in 7 children, 
     more than 1 in 4 Black children, and more than 1 in 5 Latino 
     and Indigenous children lived in poverty;
       Whereas youth suicide rates are rising, and suicide 
     attempts by Black adolescents increased by 73 percent between 
     1991 and 2017;
       Whereas the Federal Head Start program reaches only 36 
     percent of eligible low-income children, and Early Head Start 
     reaches only 11 percent;
       Whereas 14,000,000 students attend schools with a police 
     officer but no counselor, nurse, psychologist, or social 
     worker;
       Whereas mental health professionals, such as school 
     psychologists and counselors, are best equipped to maintain 
     school safety without pushing children into the school-to-
     prison pipeline;
       Whereas nearly 1 in 4 students, or up to 3,000,000 
     students, has been missing from school during the COVID-19 
     pandemic, and will need additional support both in and 
     outside of school to accelerate learning;
       Whereas the youth mental health crisis has been exacerbated 
     by the climate crisis, and has worsened due to the COVID-19 
     pandemic and economic collapse;
       Whereas Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income 
     communities have borne the brunt of health impacts arising 
     from fossil fuel use, industrial pollution, and crumbling 
     infrastructure;
       Whereas, increasingly, climate disasters and extreme 
     weather events are leaving behind communities suffering from 
     widespread trauma and in need of mental health care;

[[Page S962]]

       Whereas nurses, care and social assistance workers, and 
     educators--
       (1) have been first responders during climate disasters and 
     extreme weather events;
       (2) are essential for responding to other forms of 
     environmental harm; and
       (3) have taken grave personal risks to help the people they 
     serve;
       Whereas worsening climate impacts will make care work more 
     necessary and care more difficult to administer, 
     disproportionately impacting children, older adults, and 
     people with disabilities, who risk being separated from their 
     regular care workers and caregivers;
       Whereas, despite the prevalence of low wages and difficult 
     conditions, direct care jobs, including home care, 
     residential care, and nursing assistant jobs, are already 
     among the fastest growing in the the United States and 
     represent the largest occupational group in the country;
       Whereas communities devastated by deindustrialization and 
     disinvestment are particularly reliant on care and social 
     assistance work for employment;
       Whereas many care, social assistance, and education jobs 
     are relatively low-carbon occupations, and can quickly become 
     green jobs as certain physical infrastructures decarbonize, 
     especially transit systems, health care facilities, and 
     public buildings;
       Whereas a robust care workforce will also be required to 
     support a just transition to a healthy, zero-carbon economy, 
     as other workers shift to new industries, move across the 
     country, and develop new care needs;
       Whereas the multiple crises now facing the United States 
     require not only unprecedented investments in physical 
     infrastructure, but also similarly sized investments in 
     social infrastructure, including care infrastructure;
       Whereas public investment in care work supports care 
     workers' increased economic activity, creating additional 
     jobs throughout the economy;
       Whereas we have a historic opportunity to finally build 
     care infrastructure that is equitable and inclusive, and one 
     in which all people can thrive, prosper, weather future 
     disruptions, and age with dignity in their own homes and 
     communities; and
       Whereas, in the context of addressing and defeating the 
     COVID-19 pandemic, economic crisis, systemic racism, and 
     climate change, and taking seriously the mandate to ``promote 
     the general Welfare'', bold investments in care can anchor 
     the rebirth of the United States: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to 
     dramatically expand and strengthen the care economy, healing 
     and supporting the country as we emerge from the COVID-19 
     pandemic and face the challenges of the 21st century and 
     beyond;
       (2) the obligation described in paragraph (1) can only be 
     met with far-reaching public investments, designed to achieve 
     the goals of--
       (A) repairing the wrongs of history, including by--
       (i) acknowledging and addressing the legacies of exclusion 
     and oppression faced by caregivers and care workers, 
     particularly women of color and immigrants;
       (ii) acknowledging and addressing the trauma of all those 
     with unmet care needs, such as people of color, including 
     Black, Brown, and Indigenous people and Asian Americans and 
     Pacific Islanders, immigrant, LGBTQIA+, older, low-income, 
     rural, and deindustrialized communities, people with 
     disabilities, the unemployed, underemployed, unhoused, people 
     who are incarcerated or who were formerly incarcerated, 
     veterans, survivors of abuse, and children and young people 
     coping with economic and climate disruption; and
       (iii) approaching care policy as part of a broader agenda 
     of dismantling systemic racism, sexism, economic inequality, 
     and other forms of oppression, alongside efforts to achieve 
     truth and reconciliation, reparations, decarceration, 
     restorative justice, Indigenous sovereignty, a fair and 
     humane immigration system, demilitarization, a Federal jobs 
     guarantee, and economic, environmental, and climate justice 
     for all;
       (B) raising pay, benefits, protections, and standards for 
     existing care workers, such that--
       (i) care jobs are family sustaining, paying substantially 
     more than $15 an hour and offering generous benefits;
       (ii) all care workers have--

       (I) the right, and have pathways, to unionize;
       (II) the ability to engage in collective action; and
       (III) full labor protections, including those specified in 
     the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act;

       (iii) all care workers who wish to form worker-owned 
     cooperatives have access to resources and technical support 
     with which to do so;
       (iv) all care workers have access to ample training 
     opportunities, apprenticeships, and career ladders leading to 
     higher compensation, along with other resources and support, 
     including funding to facilitate those opportunities;
       (v) all care workers have the mandated employer protections 
     they need to conduct their work safely in general, and in the 
     event of a pandemic, infectious disease outbreak, or other 
     disaster, including having optimal personal protective 
     equipment, optimal isolation protocols, testing and contact 
     tracing, and paid days off due to exposure or illness;
       (vi) all care workers are safe from workplace violence, 
     harassment, and threats to health; and
       (vii) all undocumented workers have pathways to citizenship 
     and full and equal access to all public benefits, including 
     health, nutrition, and income support;
       (C) creating millions of new care jobs over the next 
     decade, including as part of existing and new public jobs 
     programs, subject to the same principles in subparagraph (B), 
     in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic recovery, the Green 
     New Deal, and any similar efforts to meet the challenges and 
     opportunities of the 21st century;
       (D) building and expanding zero-carbon, non-polluting, 
     climate-safe infrastructure, including physical 
     infrastructure and social infrastructure, to guarantee care 
     to all people throughout the life cycle, moving the United 
     States toward universal, public programs ensuring--
       (i) high-quality health care, including comprehensive and 
     noncoercive mental health care coverage, substance use 
     treatment, and reproductive care, free at the point of 
     service;
       (ii) free, high-quality home and community-based services, 
     without income or asset tests and without waiting lists, 
     which would fix the institutional bias of the current system, 
     and allow people with disabilities and older adults to 
     receive needed support and live self-directed lives;
       (iii) free, high-quality childcare and early childhood 
     education with a focus on the first 1,000 days of life, and 
     robust, culturally responsive, and diverse care settings to 
     achieve healthy child development;
       (iv) paid family and medical leave of at least 6 months, 
     with full wage replacement; and
       (v) additional support for unpaid caregivers, people with 
     disabilities, older adults, and children, with the goal of 
     eradicating child poverty; and
       (E) building and expanding other zero-carbon, non-
     polluting, climate-safe infrastructure and jobs that are 
     intimately connected to the care infrastructure described in 
     subparagraph (D), to meet the fundamental material, 
     developmental, emotional, and social needs of all people, 
     including--
       (i) clean air and water;
       (ii) public, permanently affordable, and dignified housing 
     and transit systems, integrated with adequate social services 
     to support residents of all ages and abilities;
       (iii) safe, accessible infrastructure, including public 
     accommodations, schools, workplaces, housing, transit, and 
     streets allowing for full mobility for all people;
       (iv) public education, with a focus on social and emotional 
     learning, unleashing creativity in the arts and sciences, and 
     educating and nurturing the whole child, and including fully 
     funded programs for high-need students;
       (v) healthy, nourishing, and sustainable food systems that 
     provide affordable, accessible, and culturally appropriate 
     foods;
       (vi) comprehensive public health and emergency preparedness 
     infrastructure, including equitable, democratic response and 
     recovery efforts during and after climate disasters;
       (vii) clear opportunities for, and the removal of barriers 
     to, unionization and collective action in all economic 
     sectors, including the service, technology, and gig work 
     sectors;
       (viii) a Federal minimum wage of at least $15 an hour, 
     indexed to the cost of living, and the elimination of 
     subminimum wages for people with disabilities, tipped 
     workers, and all other workers;
       (ix) expanded leisure time, with no loss in pay or 
     benefits;
       (x) generous, paid sick days and vacation time;
       (xi) support for worker ownership, worker-owned 
     cooperatives, and safety and democracy in the workplace, so 
     that workers have meaningful influence over their conditions 
     of work and the decisions that affect their lives;
       (xii) adequate public services and programs to support all 
     people in navigating economic and social challenges, 
     including navigating life on a rapidly warming planet, and to 
     help all people unleash their full potential as human beings;
       (xiii) public libraries, community centers, and other 
     spaces that foster creativity, connection, mental health, and 
     human development;
       (xiv) support for practicing and aspiring artists, as well 
     as institutions, venues, and platforms that empower and 
     fairly compensate artists, bringing their work to wider 
     audiences, and integrating the arts into community mental 
     health, education, and resilience efforts;
       (xv) access to nature, public space, diverse forms of 
     public recreation, and technology, including public broadband 
     internet; and
       (xvi) mechanisms for democratic oversight of data, 
     algorithmic, and technological systems, along with worker and 
     community participation in the development and application of 
     those systems, in service of expanding and improving care and 
     social infrastructures;
       (3) any COVID-19 relief and economic recovery legislation 
     must prioritize and invest in care infrastructure as a down 
     payment on building an interconnected, holistic caregiving 
     system that--
       (A) is the backbone of the economy and essential to all 
     people; and

[[Page S963]]

       (B) celebrates the interdependence of all people;
       (4) unpaid caregivers deserve support, care workers deserve 
     quality, high-paying, union jobs, people with disabilities 
     and older adults deserve independence and self-determination, 
     and every person, at every stage of life, deserves to live, 
     work, play, and care with dignity; and
       (5) our ultimate aim is to build an economy and society 
     based on care for people, communities, and the planet we all 
     share.

                          ____________________