[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 133 (Saturday, August 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4060-S4061]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               CHILDCARE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, well, first, I want to thank my dear 
friend and our great leader and chair of the Health, Education, Labor, 
and Pensions Committee for her positive words on this bill and her 
reminder to all of us that our work is not done and particularly for 
her work on one of the most urgent issues facing American families: 
childcare. I don't know of a single Member of this Senate, Democrat or 
Republican, who has done more to push the issue of childcare and get it 
done than the senior Senator from the great State of Washington, and I 
thank her for that.
  I want to thank my colleagues Senator Kaine and Senator Blumenthal, 
who have also been such strong leaders on this issue.
  I am here to say that what they are saying--Senator Murray, Senator 
Blumenthal, Senator Kaine--is right. We need to do something in this 
country to lower childcare costs and increase its availability. I 
pledge to my colleagues and to the American people that I will keep 
working with Senator Murray until we get something done to increase 
access to high-quality childcare for working families.
  We all know that, today, families pay more for childcare than at any 
point in American history. Amazingly, sometimes families have to pay 
more for childcare than they would pay for a mortgage. It is out of 
reach.
  Some people forget how the world has changed. When I was a kid, my 
dad had this little junky exterminating business. My mom was what was 
then called a housewife. I got home from school every day at 3 o'clock, 
and there was Mom with milk and cookies, asking me what homework I 
had--oh, I don't have any homework, Mom--and telling me what time I had 
to come back home from going out and playing in the schoolyard for 
dinner.
  That doesn't happen anymore. The vast majority of families in America 
are either single parent or two parents,

[[Page S4061]]

both working. The percentage that have two parents, only one working, 
is minimal. So childcare is now a necessity. It is a necessity for 
families.
  The anguish people go through to try to find childcare, and then when 
it is not available or something happens, what are they going to do? 
They are both working and scrambling. Who is going to watch the kids? 
It is agony. It is not this kind of agony that comes, you know, God 
forbid, once in a lifetime when you get a serious illness, but it is 
real agony and anxiety. We have to do something.
  There is another reason we have to do something: our economy. You 
read all of the economic experts. We are short of labor. We are short 
of labor. You go to any business--small, medium, big--they are short of 
labor.
  Probably the No. 1 or No. 2 reason in the whole country we are short 
of labor is we don't have adequate childcare. Moms or dads don't want 
to go to work because they don't know who is going to take care of the 
kids. Moms or dads stay home or retire or whatever. So our economy 
desperately needs this. When parents can't enter the workforce--
particularly women--our country suffers as an economy, and productivity 
is greatly diminished.
  Of course, there are other issues to deal with in this economy as 
well that are related. Home- and community-based services. People need 
a roof over their heads. We need to support families through paid 
leave. We need to make sure that every child in this country has a 
chance to grow and reach their potential, not in poverty. All of these 
issues are important. Childcare is so important--so important.
  So I want to first thank again Senator Murray for her words. I want 
to thank my colleagues. Two of our leaders on this issue, Senators 
Kaine and Blumenthal, are here today.
  We want to pledge to the American people that we are going to keep 
working until we get something done in childcare, and we will keep 
fighting for all these issues to expand opportunity for all Americans. 
It is so, so vital to the future of our country and to the well-being 
of families across the Nation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.

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