[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 125 (Thursday, July 30, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4355-S4356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, 
 UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 
  AND HUMAN SERVICES RELATING TO ``RESTORING FLEXIBILITY IN THE CHILD 
         CARE AND DEVELOPMENT FUND (CCDF)''--Motion to Proceed

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 533, 
S.J. Res. 199.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the joint resolution by 
title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 533, S.J. Res. 199, a 
     joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval 
     under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule 
     submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services 
     relating to ``Restoring Flexibility in the Child Care and 
     Development Fund (CCDF)''.

  Mrs. MURRAY. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays are ordered.
  The Senator from Washington.


                               Childcare

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, while President Trump's top priorities 
are $1.5 trillion in war spending and a golden ballroom, those are not 
the priorities that American families are focused on. Everywhere I go, 
I hear from families about the crushing cost of childcare, so it is no 
surprise to me that 80 percent of voters say the high cost of childcare 
is a major problem. This is at the beating heart of our economy. If Mom 
and Dad don't have affordable, high-quality childcare, Mom and Dad 
can't go to work.
  But while Trump has plunged us into an affordability crisis, a war 
that no one asked for, all while families are struggling to get by, he 
is hell-bent on making our country's childcare crisis even worse. Right 
now, Trump's HHS ended a 7-percent copayment cap on childcare costs for 
the very low-income families who already receive Federal childcare 
support. This is already a very modest Federal program that needs to be 
supersized in order to meet the needs of every child who needs it. Even 
with this program, many households are paying more than 20 percent of 
their household income on childcare costs.
  When Democrats put forward this policy, we said no family who 
qualifies for this subsidy should pay more than 7 percent of their 
income for childcare. Trump tore that up.
  We should be having a debate about how we increase childcare funding. 
How about, instead of a $1.5 trillion war budget, we make sure every 
working family in America can afford childcare. Well, Trump's tariffs 
already tax diapers, formula, and the car seat. Now he is coming for 
commonsense childcare policies, taking us in the wrong direction at a 
time when families need affordable childcare more than ever. If Trump 
had simply done nothing and left the 7-percent cap in place, some of 
these families would have ended up saving as much as $15,000 a year for 
their family.
  This is really a slap in the face to moms and dads all over the 
country--and to childcare providers, who are already stretched thin to 
make their budgets work and keep their doors open and keep qualified 
employees in a field that has very high turnover.
  The good news: Congress can now force Trump to reverse course on 
this--today, right now. Very soon, we are going to be voting on my 
resolution to overturn Trump's anti-childcare rule and bring back that 
7 percent income cap. This shouldn't be controversial. You are either 
voting to lower childcare costs or to increase them.
  Not too long ago, President Trump said openly that he believes--and I 
am going to quote him--we can't afford daycare; we have to pay for war.
  We can afford childcare. Trump just wants to use our taxpayer dollars 
to fund war and tax cuts for billionaires. Trump says we can't afford 
childcare, but he is wrong.
  The truth is, we can't afford to ignore childcare. I know that 
investment in childcare is an investment in our families and an 
investment in a stronger economy.
  To my colleagues: If you vote to let this rule stand, own it. Go home 
and tell the parents in your State you voted to raise their childcare 
bill. You cannot call yourself pro-family while voting to make it more 
expensive to raise one. You just can't.
  That is why I am calling on my colleagues to join me today and pass 
this resolution.
  Every Senator is going to cast a vote today on a simple question: 
Should working parents pay more for childcare or less? Donald Trump 
wants them to pay more--more at the pump, more at the grocery store, 
and now more to drop the child off at daycare. Now the Senate will give 
its answers, and I promise you this: Parents are watching and parents 
remember.
  To my colleagues: Vote for the moms. Vote for the dads. Vote for the 
kid in the back seat at the 7 a.m. dropoff. When childcare costs as 
much as the mortgage, whose side are you on?
  So, again, I urge my colleagues to vote yes to lower childcare costs.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

[[Page S4356]]

  

  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from New York.

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