Floor Statements

Mr. 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.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 11 a.m. on Wednesday, January 17; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 2872 postcloture; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; further, that all time during adjournment, recess, morning business, and leader remarks count postcloture on the motion to proceed.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Madam President, I rise with my colleagues today to say that childcare is a necessity for working families, and it is in all of our interests to make sure that families have a safe, affordable, high- quality place for their little ones. And that is why we need to step up and make sure that we provide support for childcare as we contemplate next steps for an emergency supplemental budget.

So for decades, Minnesotans have struggled to find childcare they can afford. Even before the pandemic, families told me that it cost them as much to pay for a year of daycare as to send their child to the University of Minnesota for a year.

I mean, of course, these young families haven't had years to save to pay for that childcare. So they can't afford over $12,000 a year, and that is even if they can find a good, safe place for their infants and toddlers.

Then, of course, when the pandemic hit, family care providers came into my office to tell me that their businesses were about to collapse. And then what happened? Congress took crucial action. We came together to pass emergency relief so that providers could pay their bills and keep their doors open, and families had a place for their children. These relief programs were absolutely necessary to help childcare providers keep their doors open and to operate during those unprecedented times.

So here is the good news. Our efforts were a huge success. Minnesota providers, from the smallest of small businesses operating out of their homes to larger childcare centers, all tell me that they would not have survived without this help, and that is true not just in Minnesota but all over the country.

Just in Minnesota, the emergency childcare stabilization grants kept over 8,000 childcare providers going. It kept them going. They reached over 200,000 kids just in Minnesota, but also in every State. From Alaska to Alabama, every State saw really tremendous benefits. In fact--this is interesting--96 percent of childcare providers that got

help from these stabilization grants say that it helped them to stay open and operating.

So, colleagues, here is our challenge. On September 30, these programs expired, but the deep challenges that families and childcare providers face are still there. So we are back in the soup because, without help to these providers, they are back at risk themselves, and they face really terrible choices, as Senator Murray just described. Do they try to cut the pay for these workers, who are some of the lowest paid, underpaid workers--primarily women, primarily women of color-- anyplace in the country. So that is one option--pay cuts for those workers who are struggling already themselves. Or do they try to increase prices, which we know will drive some families away because they literally cannot afford what it costs? Or, as Senator Murray says, do they just fold up? Do they just go out of business? Do they give up?

And if that happens, we know what we will see. We will see more women leaving the workforce at a time when many Minnesota businesses are telling me that they are struggling to find the talent that they need to grow their businesses.

So, colleagues, we took decisive action to bolster our Nation's caregiving infrastructure, and we got great results. And, now, we cannot afford to lose the progress that we made.

This is an issue that I think we all know people are paying attention to. In Minnesota and all over the country, they are noticing this. Childcare is one of the top issues that I hear about from people when I am home. I hear it from families in rural Minnesota who are driving 50 miles to take their kids to childcare. I hear it from families who are paying more than a third of their incomes to cover the costs of care for two children, and I hear it from employers and economic development professionals who want to hire and retain great talent, but they know that they can't do that unless there is a childcare center in their community that people can rely on.

So this is about our kids, but it is also about our economy. A recent study found that our broken childcare system cost the economy $122 billion a year in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue. That is every year--$122 billion.

So if you think about the return on investment for providing the grants to stabilize these childcare centers so that they are there for our families, it is so clear what the right thing to do is.

We can fix this. We know what to do because we did it once and it worked, and now we just need to do it again.

Now, I think that everyone in this room knows that we need a long- term solution to our childcare crisis, and many of us are working on that. But, in the meantime, right now, families don't have time to wait. We know what to do. We know how to help parents. We know how to keep childcare providers open.

And so I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: Let's take what we know worked, and let's do it again. Join us in providing urgently needed support for childcare. Join us for the good of our families, for the good of our babies and toddlers, and for childcare providers and for our whole country.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that three fellows in my office, Emilie Benson, Emily Hentschke, and Christopher Jackson, be granted floor privileges until September 1, 2024.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions: S. Res. 473, S. Res. 474, and S. Res. 475.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, that the preambles be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, November 28; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning

business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Bryan nomination, postcloture; further, that all time be considered expired at 11:30 a.m. and the Senate recess following the cloture vote on the Garnett nomination until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; further, that if cloture has been invoked on the Garnett nomination, all time be considered expired at 2:15 p.m.; and, finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday's sessions, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

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

Mr. President, I understand that there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of S. 1146 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, October 31; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Maddox nomination postcloture; further, that all time be considered expired at 11:30 a.m. and that following the cloture vote on the Lew nomination, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Lew nomination, all time be considered expired at 2:30 p.m. and, upon disposition of the nomination, the Senate resume legislative session to consider Calendar No. 198, H.R. 4366; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

For the information of the Senate, Members should expect additional rollcall votes during Tuesday's session.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, I rise today in support of Jessica Looman to be Administrator for the Wage and Hour Division at the Department of Labor. And I want my Senate colleagues to know a little bit about Jessica, whom I have had the opportunity to know well and to work with since 2011.

Jessica is from St. Paul, MN. She has worked as an attorney and advocate, as a labor leader heading the Minnesota building trades, as a public sector leader, and as a lifelong champion for workers. And in all her roles, Jessica has earned the reputation for being thoughtful and innovative and fair. She is respected for her skill leading large, complex organizations and getting results and working productively with diverse groups of people to find good solutions and common ground.

Before I was Minnesota's Senator and Lieutenant Governor, I served as chief of staff for the Governor of Minnesota, Mark Dayton. And when we needed a leader who was trusted both by business and by labor to be a leader at Minnesota's Department of Labor and Industry, we selected Jessica, who served both as assistant commissioner and also as deputy commissioner. And Jessica impressed me and everyone with her leadership, her competence, and her commitment to fairly and diligently enforcing the law.

She led Minnesota's efforts to ensure safe, fair, and healthy workplaces and labor standards. And she led our effort to expand apprenticeships. Jessica was respected by business and labor alike for her commitment to establishing reasonable, effective workplace rules and regulations.

A couple of years later, when we needed a strong leader to take on Minnesota's Department of Commerce, Jessica was our first pick. In that role, she again showed her skill as an executive leader, leading successful statewide initiatives and growing Minnesota's clean energy jobs. So I have no doubt that Jessica will be a fair and pragmatic Administrator for the Wage and Hour Division, which is responsible for enforcing some of our Nation's most important laws governing minimum wage and overtime pay and child labor standards.

As Administrator, Jessica will have direct impact protecting the interest of hard-working Americans, like the waitress whose boss is stealing her tips, or the building trades' carpenter or laborer who has the right to earn the prevailing wage on Federal projects so that they can support their families, or the worker who isn't being paid for the overtime hours that they have worked. Ms. Looman's values are rooted in fairness and the promise that all work has dignity and should be respected.

One of the things that I have learned in my time in public service is that, if you understand both sides of an argument and you really listen, you can usually find a solution that works. Jessica exemplifies this approach. In all of the years that I have worked closely with her, she always approaches issues with that keen desire to understand what both sides need and what they want and then to find a solution that both sides can agree is fair.

And let us be honest, sometimes regulations can seem subjective and hard to understand. And Jessica gets this, and so she is always looking for a path that is reasonable, that protects people's rights, and that follows the law but that is reasonable. I think that this is why she is respected both by employers and by labor, first in Minnesota and now at the U.S. Department of Labor, and it is why she will make a strong, respected, and trusted Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division.

I urge my colleagues to support her confirmation. Her reputation as a respected, effective leader has been built over years of hard work, fighting for working people, and she has a track record of successfully building coalitions and consensus, even when there are real and difficult challenges to bridge.