Katie Britt Touts Bipartisan Bill To Improve Access To Available And Affordable Childcare

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During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) spoke about the Bipartisan Child Care Plan.

Transcript

00:00In March of this year, I delivered remarks right here on the Senate floor about a piece

00:09of legislation, bipartisan, common sense, child care legislation.

00:15I spoke about how the Republican Party is now the party of parents, the party of families,

00:21the party of hard-working Americans.

00:25I spoke about how we, as the party of life, the party of families, should prioritize ways

00:31to make it easier to both start and grow our families.

00:38Since then, more and more colleagues have joined the Child Care Availability and Affordability

00:44Act.

00:45As we work to build back America, it just makes sense.

00:51I was proud to introduce this legislation with Senator Tim Kaine, and we believe it will

00:56help address our nation's child care crisis.

01:02Supporters are both Republicans and Democrats.

01:04They are both parents and grandparents who understand how incredibly difficult it is to

01:10find affordable, high-quality, reliable child care.

01:16I've spoken about my own personal story in this chamber, but today I want to speak for

01:20the millions of moms and dads who don't just want Congress to do something about this.

01:28They need Congress to do something.

01:32Recent polls show that 81% of America – think about that.

01:37In the time that we are right now – 81% of America – believe affordable and available

01:44child care is an issue that everyone should be concerned with, regardless of whether they

01:50have children or not.

01:5272% of Republicans say increasing federal funding for child care is an important priority

01:59and a good use of taxpayer dollars.

02:0270% of independents and 90% of Democrats agree.

02:07Three out of every four Americans believe that the lack of child care impacts the ability

02:13of businesses to function effectively and consistently.

02:20The message from voters is crystal clear.

02:25It's not just parents of young children who are impacted by the lack of affordable and

02:30available child care.

02:32It is small business owners, neighbors, grandparents and friends.

02:38This issue cuts across different demographics and party lines.

02:42It is a struggle that Congress absolutely should address.

02:49I believe the solution is my child care legislation – the Child Care Availability and Affordability

02:56Act.

02:58This plan consists of targeted investments in families and small businesses.

03:04It modernizes three existing tax credits to reflect the current economic reality.

03:10This is an example of good, common-sense policymaking.

03:14We are not creating a new entitlement.

03:16We are letting Americans keep more of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars in a manner that

03:22actually grows the economy.

03:25And we are offering job creators an incentive to invest directly in their hard-working people

03:32that have child care needs and those benefits would help.

03:38These tax credits have not been updated since 2001, so almost 25 years ago.

03:46Unfortunately, inaction by Congress has contributed to the crisis.

03:51The American economy loses $122 billion a year because of the lack of affordable child care.

04:02In contrast, my bill would cost just over $4 billion a year.

04:08You can do that math.

04:10Imagine the boost to our economy if we made this targeted investment in workers and families.

04:19Consider a parent who may be a low-income individual, many of whom find the high cost of child care

04:27to be the single biggest barrier in re-entering the workforce.

04:34We could empower those parents to get back to work and move off government assistance.

04:41This is exactly the kind of pro-family, pro-mainstreet, pro-worker legislation that has the ability

04:48to both transform our economy and support families.

04:54I want to thank my colleagues who have already signed on, and most recently the senior senator

04:59from Alabama, Tommy Tuberville, and the senior senator from Arizona, Mark Kelly.

05:04I am encouraged by the amount of support this legislation continues to build, but we can't

05:09stop now.

05:12They are counting on Republicans, the American people, to be that party of families, the party

05:20of parents, the party of hardworking Americans, and to actually deliver.

05:26I believe the American people are firmly behind us, and I want to encourage all of my colleagues

05:31to join with me in this effort.

05:34We are elected to serve the needs of our constituents, and when the American people speak out about

05:41those needs, we have an obligation to listen and to do something about it.

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