Statement on Proposed Child Care Legislation

The balanced budget I submitted to Congress includes an ambitious initiative to make child care better, safer, and more affordable. America's working families and our Nation's children deserve our attention and action on this critical issue. Today House Democrats are unveiling an important proposal—sponsored by over 100 Representatives—to address the child care needs of working families. Like my child care initiative, this new package significantly increases child care subsidies for poor children, provides greater tax relief to help low- and middle-income families pay for child care, creates a tax credit for businesses that provide child care to their employees, increases after-school opportunities for children, promotes early learning, and improves child care quality.

I believe that by continuing to work together and by taking the best proposals from both sides of the aisle, we can achieve legislation that helps Americans fulfill their responsibilities as workers, and even more importantly, their responsibilities as parents. I welcome this important contribution from House Democrats, and I urge all Members of Congress to come together this year to improve child care for our Nation's working families.