Statement on Congressional Action on Proposed Child Care Legislation

I am pleased that Congress has made important progress this week to address the pressing child care needs of America's working families.

Significant new investments are needed to make child care better, safer, and more affordable for working families. My budget request includes substantial new resources to help working families pay for child care, increase the supply of good after-school programs, improve the safety and quality of care, and promote early learning.

Today Senator Jeffords and Representative Gilman introduced, with bipartisan cosponsors, the "Caring for America's Children Act," which calls for significant new investments to make child care more affordable and improve child care quality. Other important legislation has been introduced in the House and the Senate during this congressional session, as well. And most important, this week the Congress demonstrated through votes on the budget resolution that there is strong bipartisan support for taking action on child care. I want to thank Senators Dodd and Jeffords for their strong leadership on this issue, and I look forward to working over the coming months with Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to strengthen child care for America's working families.