[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 3 (Monday, January 25, 1999)]
[Pages 76-77]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Proposed ``Affordable Child Care for Early Success and 
Security Act''

January 19, 1999

    Tonight, in my State of the Union Address, I will outline my agenda 
to help parents struggling to meet their responsibilities at work and at 
home. This agenda includes an ambitious initiative to make child care 
safer, better, and more affordable for America's working families. Today 
Senator Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) and many of his Democratic colleagues 
in the Senate have taken an important step toward reaching that goal by 
introducing the ``Affordable Child Care for Early Success and Security 
Act'' (A.C.C.E.S.S.).
    This proposal, like mine, significantly increases child care 
subsidies for poor children, provides greater tax relief to help low- 
and middle-income families pay for child care and to support parents who 
chose to stay at home to care for their young children. This

[[Page 77]]

plan dramatically increases after-school opportunities, encourages 
businesses to provide child care for their employees, promotes early 
learning and school readiness, and improves child care quality.
    The child care ``A.C.C.E.S.S. Act'' builds on the longstanding 
commitment of Senator Dodd and the cosponsors of this legislation to 
improving child care for our Nation's children. I look forward to 
working with Members of Congress in both parties to enact child care 
legislation this year that will help Americans fulfill their 
responsibilities as workers and, even more importantly, as parents.