{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases/bonamici-kaine-smith-warren-jacobs-lead-bicameral-call-avert-child-care", "Bonamici, Kaine, Smith, Warren, Jacobs Lead Bicameral Call to Avert Child Care Funding Cliff", "2023-08-01", "2023", "2023-08", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Suzanne Bonamici", "B001278", "bonamici.house.gov", "bonamici", "https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON DC [08/1/23] \u2013 Today Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Sara Jacobs (D-CA), along with Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) called on President Joe Biden to support efforts to provide needed funding to prevent a national wave of child care closures.\n\nCongress secured historic funding through the American Rescue Plan Act to stabilize child care amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but that relief funding is set to end at this September. In a recent report, The Century Foundation (TCF) estimates that more than 70,000 child care programs will likely close when the Child Care Stabilization Funds and other child care relief funding expires.\n\n\u201cWe urge you to join us in supporting an investment of $16 billion a year by any and all means possible \u2013 including supporting Congress in efforts to extend the Child Care Stabilization grants passed in ARPA\u2013 and through emergency funding for child care in any supplemental appropriations package put forth by the Administration,\u201d the Members wrote.\n\nThe Members noted that the child care system was already in crisis before the pandemic, and that it has been one of the slowest sectors to recover from the pandemic with wages remaining unacceptably low for the child care workforce.\n\n\u201cThe broken child care market has resulted in an impossible tension between families, workers, and providers: child care providers cannot afford to run their businesses or pay adequate wages to their staff using revenue from parents alone, while child care costs are unaffordable and unsustainable for working families,\u201d the Members wrote. \u201c\u2026The impending fiscal cliff will be devastating to child care programs, children and their families, the child care workforce, and the nation\u2019s economy.\u201d\n\nThe letter is supported by National Women\u2019s Law Center, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), Child Care for Every Family Network, Community Change Action, Family Values at Work, Caring Across Generations, First Focus Campaign for Children, Oxfam America, MomsRising, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), and ZERO TO THREE.\n\n\u201cWithout an immediate investment of at least $16 billion, early educators across the country will be forced to close their doors or raise their rates, which will leave millions of children and their families without the care that they need,\" said Whitney Pesek, Director of Federal Child Care Policy for the National Women\u2019s Law Center. \"We are grateful for Senators Kaine, Smith, and Warren, as well as Representatives Bonamici and Jacobs, for their leadership in helping to prevent this looming child care crisis, and we join them in urging President Biden to support this critical funding that will provide a much-needed lifeline to the child care industry.\"\n\nThe full text of the House letter can be found here, and Senate letter can be found here.\n\nIn addition to Bonamici and Jacobs the House letter is signed by Representatives Alma Adams, Colin Allred, Becca Balint, Nanette Barrag\u00e1n, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Jamaal Bowman, Shontel Brown, Julia Brownley, Nikki Budzinski, Cori Bush, Yadira Caraveo, Salud Carbajal, Andr\u00e9 Carson, Troy Carter, Greg Casar, Sean Casten, Joaquin Castro, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Judy Chu, Yvette Clarke, Angie Craig, Jasmine Crockett, Jason Crow, Henry Cuellar, Danny Davis, Donald Davis, Madeleine Dean, Chris DeLuzio, Mark DeSaulnier, Debbie Dingell, Lloyd Doggett, Veronica Escobar, Anna Eshoo, Dwight Evans, Lois Frankel, Sylvia Garcia, Jimmy Gomez, Josh Gottheimer, Ra\u00fal Grijalva, Jahana Hayes, Jim Himes, Val Hoyle, Sheila Jackson Lee, Pramila Jayapal, Henry \"Hank\" Johnson, Syndey Kamlager-Dove, Bill Keating, Robin Kelly, Andy Kim, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Annie Kuster, Rick Larsen, Barbara Lee, Teresa Leger Fernandez, Mike Levin, Ted Lieu, Zoe Lofgren, Stephen Lynch, Seth Magaziner, Kathy Manning, Lucy McBath, Jennifer McClellan, Betty McCollum, Morgan McGarvey, James P. McGovern, Robert Menendez, Grace Meng, Gwen Moore, Seth Moulton, Kevin Mullin, Jerrold Nadler, Grace Napolitano, Joe Neguse, Donald Norcross, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Donald Payne Jr., Scott Peters, Brittany Pettersen, Chellie Pingree, Mark Pocan, Katie Porter, Ayanna Pressely, Delia Ramirez, Jamie Raskin, Deborah Ross, Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Andrea Salinas, Linda S\u00e1nchez, John Sarbanes, Mary Gay Scanlon, Jan Schakowsky, Adam Schiff, Hillary Scholten, Terri Sewell, Mikie Sherrill, Elissa Slotkin, Melanie Stansbury, Hayley Stevens, Marilyn Strickland, Mark Takano, Rashida Tlaib, Jill Tokuda, Norma Torres, Ritchie Torres, Lori Trahan, David Trone, Juan Vargas, Marc Veasey, Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Jennifer Wexton, Susan Wild, and Nikema Williams.\n\nIn addition to Kaine, Smith, and Warren, the letter was signed by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:30:18Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases/bonamici-kaine-smith-warren-jacobs-lead-bicameral-call-avert-child-care"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9555197320878506, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}