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




                               CHILDCARE

  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, but for everything good this bill 
accomplishes, we have not yet addressed a critical issue families face 
today: access to high-quality childcare.
  There is a childcare crisis in this country, and the time to address 
it is now. There can be no more excuses. We cannot simply vote on this 
package and call it a day. Our childcare system isn't just stretched 
thin; it is broken. Talk to parents, talk to businesses, talk to 
anyone, and it is painfully obvious that our childcare system isn't 
working for families, providers, or our economy and hasn't been for 
some time.
  Right now, families from Seattle to Spokane are stressed. They are 
staying up late at night, trying to figure out how on Earth they are 
going to find a childcare opening or how they are going to afford it if 
they ever get off a wait list. When they can't find and afford 
childcare, as is all too often the case, parents--moms in particular--
have to leave their job and stay out of the workforce, all while 
childcare workers are being paid poverty wages, struggling to make ends 
meet and provide for their own families, and they are leaving their 
jobs for better paying work at fast food chains and big box stores, 
which pay them more than their childcare position.
  We have to do better for kids, for moms, for workers, for our 
economy, for everyone, or this is just going to keep getting worse.
  I know all of my colleagues have heard me say this before--you have 
probably heard me say it 100 times--but I want to be clear: The 
childcare system is on the brink of collapse, and parents are telling 
us every single day this is an urgent crisis.
  The emergency support that we did provide in the American Rescue Plan 
was hugely helpful, but it is going to run out, and soon, and families 
who are already at their wits' end will feel the pressure.
  So we need to lower the cost for families as we fight inflation. We 
need to expand parents' options so they can go back to work and support 
the childcare workers caring for and educating our kids each and every 
day. Now, I have been putting forward proposal after proposal to do 
exactly this, and I am working with anyone I can to make progress here 
because this isn't a ``my way or the highway'' proposal. It never was. 
I hope my colleagues know that is not how I operate. What I am talking 
about here is delivering a lifeline to kids, to moms, to our childcare 
industry, not to mention the businesses and industries that desperately 
want to hire more workers.
  I am deeply disappointed that Congress has failed to meet this 
crucial moment for our families and our childcare providers, so let me 
just say this: I have been fighting for childcare my entire career, 
since before I ever got here to the U.S. Senate. In fact, for a very 
long time, I was the only person in the room fighting. So I am not 
going to stop anytime soon.
  And guess what. I am not the only one fighting today. There are 
parents and advocates across the country who are fighting for this, who 
know how critical this is for our families. There are small business 
owners who understand how critical this is to strengthening our 
economy--real people, not some army of invisible lobbyists. So I am 
here right now to be a voice for them, and I am asking everyone here in 
Congress to step up and speak for these families too. We have to get 
this done. We must make this a priority. We must address this urgent 
crisis before it is too late.
  So I want everyone to know I am going to stay in this fight for moms 
and for our kids, and you better believe, one day, we are going to win 
this.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

                          ____________________