Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Madam President, I can say with confidence to the senior Senator from Kentucky, who spoke this morning on childcare, that as a former preschool teacher, we can rest assured that we are not at risk of a toddler takeover in the U.S. Senate.

But seriously, I have never heard so much misinformation in such a short time from one person. It is not at all clear to me that the senior Senator from Kentucky read the bill--the Build Back Better bill.

So I want to set some facts straight. Under our bill, working parents will have way more options and pay way less to send their child to a high-quality childcare provider they choose. It is the same with pre-K. Parents of 3- and 4-year-olds will have more options to send their kids to quality preschool for free. We are talking about parents saving thousands of dollars a year on childcare and pre-K, which are huge financial burdens to families right now.

It is also, by the way, a great deal for our States who, by the way, are already working with the Federal Government on childcare, and 44 States already have some form of publicly funded pre-K. So this plan is not some new outlandish idea. And, finally, religious providers and family-based providers are absolutely eligible.

So this isn't a radical plan. It is a practical solution to, again, a huge financial barrier that parents are facing today. It is not a toddler takeover. It is giving parents more choices and more affordability. Though I would actually prefer toddlers on the Senate floor to what I saw today.

And it is not far-left propaganda because I can't emphasize this enough: This is not a political question for parents. To them, the question is, Can I choose the provider I actually like or do I have to go to this cheaper one just because I can't afford the one I really want to send my kids to; or is it worth me going back to work if I have to pay as much for rent or mortgage or college tuition as I do to send my child to a provider that I trust; or how long am I going to be on this wait list, and what do I do in the meantime?

What Democrats want to do is make sure there are more affordable options out there for parents. What Senate Republicans want to do is nothing but watch the prices keep rising.

And here is the thing. I have seen again and again, when someone says you can't do something, it is because they are afraid that you will. It is because they are afraid that we will. Senate Republicans are shaking in their boots because we are really doing something that helps working parents with a big part of their costs.

So I am sure they are going to keep calling affordable childcare ``radical'' and insisting that it would be better to do just nothing, and I am equally sure that Democrats are going to get this done.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, COVID-19 has killed over 780,000 people in our country. This pandemic has a higher body count than any war we have ever fought in, and it is not over.

We should be doing everything we can to stop this virus. We should be using every tool to keep America safe. We all know the damage this virus can do to our communities and to our economy. That is why the Biden administration has taken steps to urge employers to make sure their employees are fully vaccinated or test negative for COVID-19 before they come to the workplace. That is a move that is widely popular with the American people. No one wants to go to work and be worried they might come home to their family with a deadly virus.

Even businesses support this step. The Chamber of Commerce is urging businesses to comply with the administration's emergency temporary standard. Perhaps, more importantly, it is a move that will save lives. We have already seen these requirements have a huge impact. In fact, many businesses with vaccine requirements have seen vaccine rates rise well above 90 percent. OSHA estimates that the Federal standard--which Republicans are fighting to undermine--will help protect 84 million workers, prevent thousands of deaths and over 200,000 hospitalizations from COVID-19.

I do not understand why--after all families have been through, after all we have lost and all the hard work we have done to rebuild--would anyone want to throw that in jeopardy and throw away one of the strongest tools we have to get people vaccinated, keep them safe, and end this pandemic once and for all. It is senseless. It is reckless. I urge my colleagues to vote against it.

I yield the rest of my time to the Senator from Virginia.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business.

Mr. President, today, abortion rights are hanging in the balance at the Supreme Court, and the threat to Roe is very real. Why? Because, for decades, extreme Republicans have attacked abortion rights from every angle, and they are continuing their nonstop efforts to build a country where patients are forced to remain pregnant and carry their pregnancies to term against their will.

But I want to make it clear that is absolutely unacceptable because the majority of Americans don't agree with extreme Republicans. The majority of Americans want a country where everyone can choose if and when to start a family, free from political interference.

So I will not sit silently while Republicans try to end the abortion rights affirmed by Roe v. Wade. No matter what happens, I will never stop fighting for reproductive rights, and that starts by passing the Women's Health Protection Act to ensure the right to abortion is finally protected at the Federal level.

But that is not all. I am also fighting for working families across the country who are struggling to balance caregiving and work, and who are counting on us to deliver, because we cannot build an economy that works for everyone if new parents can't take the time they need to welcome a new child, or if workers can't get paid leave when their loved ones are seriously ill.

We can't rebuild our communities when seniors and people with disabilities are not able to access the services and support they need to live in their homes and in their own communities.

And we simply cannot put our economy back on track and can't get people back to work, we can't return from this crisis stronger and fairer if we don't, at long last, address our Nation's childcare crisis.

For parents across the country, childcare is unaffordable, unavailable, and absolutely essential. Childcare costs more today than many families pay for rent or mortgage or even college tuition.

But even for those who can afford it, many can't even find it. Nearly half of families nationwide, including 60 percent of our rural families, don't have enough childcare providers in their communities. And as any parent knows, you can't go to work if you don't have any options to make sure your kids are taken care of.

That is exactly what we saw before this pandemic, when data showed 2 million parents with kids under 5 had to quit a job, turn down a job, or change their job due to childcare challenges.

We have seen that dynamic kicked into high gear during this pandemic. And as is too often the case, Black women, Latinas, women who are paid low incomes, and single mothers have been the most affected.

While the pandemic underscored how essential childcare is for families, it also made childcare harder to get by forcing many providers to close their doors. Twenty thousand childcare providers closed during this pandemic, and the childcare workers hurt by those closures were mostly women and, in particular, women of color. And even as childcare providers try to reopen their doors now, childcare workers are struggling to make ends meet.

The result of all of this is clear in headlines across the country. Watch KING 5 in my home State of Washington: ``Closures in Washington's child care industry could hinder economic recovery.''

Read the Yakima Herald: ``13% of child care providers in Washington state have closed because of pandemic.''

Take a look at My Northwest: ``Washington's child care crisis poised to get even bleaker post-pandemic.''

Across the country, it is the same story in paper after paper.

NEXTpittsburgh: ``Staffing crisis at Pennsylvania child care centers is disrupting families and slowing economic recovery.''

The Jamestown Sun: ``Child care shortage at root of workforce issues in North Dakota.''

Business Insider: `` `Childcare deserts' are a secret driver of the labor shortage--and half of Americans live in one.''

I could go on and on, but the takeaway should be pretty clear: Addressing the childcare crisis is a necessity, not just for families but for everyone.

We have employers who can't find workers. We have parents who can't go back to work without quality, affordable childcare. We have childcare providers who are struggling to stay open and childcare workers who are struggling to make ends meet.

Fixing this is make-or-break for our economy. That is why Build Back Better includes historic investments to lower families' childcare costs, to help States invest in opening new childcare providers, raising wages for the early childhood workforce, and adding more childcare openings.

Under Build Back Better, working families in this country will see their

childcare costs capped at 7 percent of their income, starting with those who need it the most. So what does that mean? It means that, in the very first year, two-thirds of our working families in this country--about 13 million children--could be eligible to get childcare at a lower cost. It means, by the fourth year, 9 in 10 working families could be eligible to send their child to a provider they choose and see their childcare costs cut by thousands of dollars each year.

For a single mother with three children in my home State of Washington making $53,000, it would mean paying nothing for childcare. For our country, it would mean we have a stronger, fairer economy that works for working people, with higher wages and better jobs and less stress for working parents--especially moms, who have been doing so much throughout this pandemic and before.

Importantly, all this will be fully paid for by making sure the wealthiest and those at the very top finally pay their fair share.

Every Republican who has said that they are worried about the workforce crisis, worried about the challenge of rebuilding our economy, and worried about how families are struggling to get by should be clamoring to get this done. It is telling about their priorities that, instead, they are now smearing it with false, bad-faith attacks: pretending it is somehow not paid for--not true; pretending it won't cover certain childcare providers--not true.

I have heard from so many parents in my State about how important childcare is. I have heard from small businesses about how important this is. And I know my colleagues across the country have heard it too. So we are going to show families we are listening. We are going to show families that we care. Democrats are going to pass Build Back Better and get this done.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business for 5 minutes.

Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of Native American Heritage Month. As a Senator from Washington State, I am proud to represent 29 federally recognized Tribes.

In Washington, we understand the importance of the sovereignty of Tribal Governments. And anyone who knows me knows, I believe a commitment is more than just words. It is about action.

At the start of this year, when we passed the American Rescue Plan to get America up and running again, it was the single largest Federal investment in Tribes ever--more than $32 billion for Tribal Nations.

Since then, I have spoken to many Tribal leaders in Washington State about what this has meant for our Tribal communities.

A housing grant to the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe helped provide homes for an additional 25 families.

The Lummi Nation created new opportunities for education and job retraining.

The American Rescue Plan helped the Tulalip keep Tulalip-owned businesses, who have been struggling since the pandemic, afloat.

Action on our commitment has helped Tribal members in my home State stay housed, get back to work, keep their small businesses open, and continues to make a difference in a thousand different ways.

Now, these outcomes weren't inevitable. They happened because of intentional and specific policy decisions this

Congress made to support Tribal Nations.

So if we are serious about showing a real commitment to Tribal communities during Native American Heritage Month, then we need to continue to prioritize Tribal communities in all of our policymaking.

Infrastructure in Indian Country--everything from roads to bridges, to broadband--has been underfunded for too long. The bipartisan infrastructure bill, which is now signed into law, will make $13 billion in direct investments in Indian Country, with tens of billions more in Federal grants and future funding opportunities. This will mean clean drinking water, access to high-speed internet, transit to connect communities, and more.

Now we have another opportunity to show our commitment to Tribal communities with the Build Back Better Act. Just like everywhere else in this country, childcare is a crisis for Native communities. Right now, about one out of every four Native Americans in this country is experiencing poverty. That is higher than any other group. So when 1 in 10 Native American parents have to quit or change their job because they can't find or afford childcare, we are making a tough situation worse.

My childcare proposal in Build Back Better is going to cut the cost of childcare by thousands for Tribal families--with many paying nothing at all for childcare--and it is going to help get more slots open everywhere we need them, so parents won't be stuck on waiting lists for months on end.

It is our government's duty to make investments like this one in Indian Country because if we really believe in Tribal sovereignty and acknowledging the role our government has played in centuries of persecution Native peoples in this country have faced, we must also take action to create real opportunity for people; action on quality, affordable childcare, housing, home care, and more.

Build Back Better is going to make a big difference for Native communities, but there is more we need to do to address the specific needs of Native communities.

We have to build on President Biden's Executive action to address the epidemic of missing or murdered indigenous peoples, especially to protect Native women and girls. We must reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act and strengthen that legislation to empower Tribal Nations to hold perpetrators of crimes committed on Tribal lands accountable. And living up to our commitments is also about representation and a seat at the table.

I was overjoyed to strongly support the confirmation of Deb Haaland, who is already blazing a trail as a historic Secretary of the Interior and a powerful voice for Tribal interests.

I was proud to recommend Lauren King, a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and a Tribal law expert to serve a lifetime appointment as a Federal court judge in Washington State--the first Native American Federal judge in my State's history and just the sixth ever in American history. And I am glad to see more than 50 Native Americans serving in key political positions throughout the Biden administration. I look forward to seeing many more.

So, on this Native American Heritage Month, let's resolve to build on the important work this Congress has done so far to support our Native communities.

As a voice for Washington State Tribes in the U.S. Senate, I will always advocate for Indian Country and fight to ensure the Federal Government lives up to its sacred commitment to indigenous people across the country.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote that was scheduled to start at 2:30 begin immediately.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I have 5 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today because it is time to make daylight saving time permanent.

This Sunday, millions of Americans are going to once again roll their clocks back, and in no time, next spring, they will have to roll their clocks forward. For what reason? I don't know a single person who loves to go through the trouble of figuring out whether their microwave or their oven has the hour right or anyone who looks forward to the Sun setting earlier and earlier every winter.

But beyond convenience, this really is a matter of health and safety. Studies have shown that our switch to standard time can increase rates of seasonal depression, as well as heart problems and the risk of stroke. Researchers also believe that if we made daylight saving time permanent, there would be fewer car accidents and evening robberies thanks to a more regular schedule and an extra hour of Sun.

There are studies that indicate permanent daylight saving time could offset reduced economic activity that we see during standard time and even would lead to greater energy savings.

The people in my home State of Washington know this. That is why we have already passed legislation to switch to permanent daylight saving time. And it is not just Washington; States across the country--Florida and California and Maine and many more--have now passed legislation in their States or resolutions to make daylight saving time year-round. But they are powerless to enact the overwhelming will of the people until they get Federal approval.

To put it simply, Americans want more sunshine and less depression.

That is actually why I am very proud to cosponsor the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act of 2021, which would extend Daylight Saving Time permanently so Americans can enjoy having sunlight during their most productive hour of the day and never have to worry about changing their clocks again.

Congress has to be part of the solution. Here is a bipartisan issue that we can and we should all get behind.

Now, I am working very hard to support the passage of this bill however possible. But this is something my constituents are truly fed up with, so I am also pressing the Department of Transportation to explore every avenue available to them to at least let States--like mine, whose voters overwhelmingly want permanent Daylight Saving Time-- have it.

(Ms. CORTEZ MASTO assumed the Chair.)

Madam President, in this country, when people have demanded changes to daylight saving rules or if it benefits the country, like saving daylight during World War I or the oil embargo in the 1970s, we have simply just changed the rules.

No one wants dark afternoons during the winter or to lose an extra hour of sleep every spring. And I can assure you that every parent that has to deal with a child every time we change the clock and it upsets their routines will be behind this.

For goodness' sake, voters across the country have shown that they support

this; research shows that it is good for public health; and studies actually demonstrate real economic and energy saving benefits.

So, Madam President, I urge that we pass the Sunshine Protection Act and finally make Daylight Saving Time permanent.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Madam President, first of all, I come to the floor to call for the confirmation of Rajesh Nayak to serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy.

Over the past year and a half, our working families across the country have really struggled through the most unequal economic crisis in recent history.

COVID put a glaring spotlight on many of the problems workers were already facing before this pandemic and has worsened longstanding inequities, making life harder for women, workers of color and workers with disabilities, and others.

If we are going to build back stronger and fairer from this pandemic, then our Federal Agencies must be fully staffed with highly qualified people who will help us tackle the many challenges hurting workers, retirees, and their families.

Mr. Nayak already has an impressive track record of doing just that. Mr. Nayak served as a senior adviser to Secretary Walsh at the Department, and also previously served in the Solicitor's office as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Deputy Chief of Staff. In those roles, he has worked on a broad portfolio of issues important to workers across the country, including workforce development, worker protection, counter-trafficking, overtime pay, health and safety, retirement security, and more.

He has also worked twice at the National Employment Law Project, including most recently as deputy CEO. As an advocate and a policymaker, he has shown time and again his commitment to empowering workers, supporting families, and advancing equity. And I have no doubt that, if confirmed as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy, he will continue working in the best interests of workers and their families, and I urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting in support of his nomination.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all remaining time on the motion to discharge be yielded back.

I ask for the yeas and nays.