    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 11 (Monday, March 22, 1999)]
    [Page 449]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Statement on Proposed Child Care Legislation

    March 16, 1999

        Making child care better, safer, and more affordable is at the heart
    of my effort to help America's parents balance their responsibilities at
    home and at work. Today, more than ever, parents struggle to find high
    quality, affordable child care for their children. That is why I have
    proposed significant new investments in child care, expanding subsidies
    and providing greater tax relief for working families, increasing after-
    school opportunities for children, improving child care quality, and
    providing new tax relief for parents who choose to stay at home.
        I am pleased that today key Members of the House of Representatives
    took steps to move us closer to enacting meaningful child care
    legislation. Representative Ben Cardin introduced important new
    legislation--the ``Child Care Improvement Act of 1999''--that, like my
    proposal, addresses the critical child care needs of working families.
    And Representative Ellen Tauscher and numerous Democratic colleagues
    introduced a comprehensive child care package--the ``Affordable Child
    Care, Education, and Security Act''--that incorporates many of my
    proposals and would go a long way to fully addressing the child care
    demands of working families. These bills would help Americans fulfill
    their responsibilities as workers and their even more important
    responsibilities as parents. I look forward to working with
    Representative Cardin, Representative Tauscher, and other Members of
    Congress on both sides of the aisle to meet the child care needs of
    America's families.