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Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under Chapter 8 of Title 5, United States Code, of the Rule Submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services Relating to "Restoring Flexibility In...

2026-07-30 Issue 125 Showing 1–1 of 1

Official Congressional Record ↗

Patty Murray

Democrat

“I want taxpayers to spend more on child care. I don't like the President's war. The war costs a lot. Many families can't afford child care. The other party is causing high prices for many things. Child care costs so much for some families. I want Congress to pass my bill. My bill will make child care cost less. If you don't pass my bill, people will be upset. If you care about families, pass my bill.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. President, while President Trump's top priorities are $1.5 trillion in war spending and a golden ballroom, those are not the priorities that American families are focused on. Everywhere I go, I hear from families about the crushing cost of childcare, so it is no surprise to me that 80 percent of voters say the high cost of childcare is a major problem. This is at the beating heart of our economy. If Mom and Dad don't have affordable, high-quality childcare, Mom and Dad can't go to work. But while Trump has plunged us into an affordability crisis, a war that no one asked for, all while families are struggling to get by, he is hell-bent on making our country's childcare crisis even worse. Right now, Trump's HHS ended a 7-percent copayment cap on childcare costs for the very low-income families who already receive Federal childcare support. This is already a very modest Federal program that needs to be supersized in order to meet the needs of every child who needs it. Even with this program, many households are paying more than 20 percent of their household income on childcare costs. When Democrats put forward this policy, we said no family who qualifies for this subsidy should pay more than 7 percent of their income for childcare. Trump tore that up. We should be having a debate about how we increase childcare funding. How about, instead of a $1.5 trillion war budget, we make sure every working family in America can afford childcare. Well, Trump's tariffs already tax diapers, formula, and the car seat. Now he is coming for commonsense childcare policies, taking us in the wrong direction at a time when families need affordable childcare more than ever. If Trump had simply done nothing and left the 7-percent cap in place, some of these families would have ended up saving as much as $15,000 a year for their family. This is really a slap in the face to moms and dads all over the country--and to childcare providers, who are already stretched thin to make their budgets work and keep their doors open and keep qualified employees in a field that has very high turnover. The good news: Congress can now force Trump to reverse course on this--today, right now. Very soon, we are going to be voting on my resolution to overturn Trump's anti-childcare rule and bring back that 7 percent income cap. This shouldn't be controversial. You are either voting to lower childcare costs or to increase them. Not too long ago, President Trump said openly that he believes--and I am going to quote him--we can't afford daycare; we have to pay for war. We can afford childcare. Trump just wants to use our taxpayer dollars to fund war and tax cuts for billionaires. Trump says we can't afford childcare, but he is wrong. The truth is, we can't afford to ignore childcare. I know that investment in childcare is an investment in our families and an investment in a stronger economy. To my colleagues: If you vote to let this rule stand, own it. Go home and tell the parents in your State you voted to raise their childcare bill. You cannot call yourself pro-family while voting to make it more expensive to raise one. You just can't. That is why I am calling on my colleagues to join me today and pass this resolution. Every Senator is going to cast a vote today on a simple question: Should working parents pay more for childcare or less? Donald Trump wants them to pay more--more at the pump, more at the grocery store, and now more to drop the child off at daycare. Now the Senate will give its answers, and I promise you this: Parents are watching and parents remember. To my colleagues: Vote for the moms. Vote for the dads. Vote for the kid in the back seat at the 7 a.m. dropoff. When childcare costs as much as the mortgage, whose side are you on? So, again, I urge my colleagues to vote yes to lower childcare costs. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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