Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Two-Generation Economic Empowerment Act, alongside my colleague and friend from Maine, Senator Susan Collins. We are going to hear from her in a few minutes.
I want to say a few words about an issue that is all too familiar to many of our States from coast to coast--those represented by Democrats, those represented by Republicans.

Earlier this month, we saw positive economic data from the Census Bureau that showed that over the last year, American middle-class and low-income families saw the largest growth in their income in generations.
I thank my colleague from Maine for her incredible work on the legislation we are going to be introducing today. There are simply far too many families in my home State of New Mexico and across this Nation who are still struggling to make ends meet, even to put food on the table and certainly to escape multigenerational poverty.

Last year, nearly one in five New Mexicans lived below the federally defined poverty rate. Think about that, one in five. These are mothers, fathers, and grandparents trying to support themselves and their families. They are young adults trying to get ahead and lay the groundwork for the future they have envisioned for themselves, but often the dreams we have of going to school and getting a job are cut short by the reality that these once rites of passage on the way to the American dream are further and further out of reach.
I believe all of us have a responsibility not to accept this status quo. Without critical programs such as Medicaid or the National School Lunch Program, even more families in New Mexico would be struggling to overcome poverty in the wake of the great recession. It is time to recognize that the Federal Government's current approach to poverty is far too disconnected. It is too fragmented and too disjointed to truly address the needs of these working families, and too often it simply ignores the very nature of the family itself.

I will tell you what I mean by that. I grew up on a small farm and ranch operation. In addition to attending our cattle, both of my parents worked full time, often more than full time. My dad was a utility lineman. My mother worked in a factory inspecting wheels on an assembly line. Like a lot of Americans, I learned the dignity of hard work long before I ever held my first job. I learned it at home.

As a father of two children, I understand the challenges of parenthood today, especially when both parents work. In many cases in New Mexico, that means both parents may work more than one job. Much of our time is centered on our jobs and our children. For many of us, this leaves very little time for ourselves or our own educational pursuits.

If parents are able to find time to attend school and better themselves, they have to fit their class schedule around those times.

They have to fit their class schedule around their child's school and their childcare hours. All of this limits parents' access to a full and rigorous class schedule and it extends the number of semesters a parent is in school and it increases their student loan debt. The way the Federal Government tries to help increased opportunities for working families isn't working well enough to address these daily challenges these families face.

When multiple programs exist to help low-income parents and children, they have individual streaming causing silos and fragmentation. Low- income families trying to access these benefits often have trouble navigating the multiple eligibility requirements and the multiple service providers. Families get discouraged and lose out on benefits because each one has its own set of requirements.

Even the local service providers who are trying to help families get ahead are finding this disjointed Federal landscape difficult to navigate. Addressing the needs of children and parents separately and without a comprehensive strategy is leaving too many children and parents behind and diminishing the whole family's chances of reaching economic security.

That is why I have teamed up with my Republican colleague from Maine, Senator Susan Collins, to introduce the bipartisan Two-Generation Economic Empowerment Act. Our legislation will increase opportunities for working families through programs targeting parents and children together with support aimed at increasing economic security, educational success, social, capital, and health and well-being.

By aligning and linking existing systems and funding streams, our legislation will lead to improved outcomes for parents and children while improving the effectiveness of service delivery. Our legislation will make Federal agencies coordinate more effectively through a new Interagency Council on Multigenerational Poverty. The council will align and link departments that are already working to address poverty in order to reduce the redundancy and the redtape we see and to make sure programs across different agencies are actually working in a complementary fashion.

We are also looking for new ways to incentivize investments in comprehensive two-generation programs. Our bill will encourage Federal, State, tribal, and local governments to test innovative ways to using Federal resources by allowing increased flexibility and blending discretionary grant funds across multiple Federal programs in exchange for a greater accountability. We will create a social impact bond pilot project to encourage private foundations and investors to fund new two- generation programs.

Over the last year, I visited programs in my home State of New Mexico that are already using a two-generation approach. In Albuquerque, I met with participants of the CNM Connect Services Program at Central New Mexico Community College. This program assists students--many of whom are parents or children of parents attending CNM--with academic support, financial coaching, and career services, and it connects families with behavioral health services and childcare. By streamlining and coordinating all of these support services for students and their children, families are able to learn and grow together.

At CNM, I met Maricela Cormona, who was a full-time mother who couldn't focus on her own education until her two children started an Even Start and Head Start early childhood education program. Thanks to a two-generation program that connects parents to childcare and education, she earned her GED, and she started taking courses at CNM to become a social worker. She was working with other parents to help them raise healthy families and receive an education.

In Sante Fe, I toured the United Way Early Learning Center. This hub of early learning and family support can serve as a model for creating a path of opportunity for all hard-working Americans, using a comprehensive two-generation approach. At a state-of-the-art facility, the center offers year-round, full-day services for children and families, including hot meals, a health center, teaching and learning technology, employment and social service assistance for parents, and a home visitation program.

One mother I met there, Brenda Olivas, was connected with United Way when she was 4 months pregnant. The home visitation supported her as she and her husband raised their young son Angel. When I talked to her, Brenda had just started working at the early learning center, helping to care for the children. Brenda said that she hoped to enroll in classes at Santa Fe Community College and put herself on a path toward a successful career.

I also hosted an outreach session for families, education administrators, and representatives of nonprofit service providers at Dona Ana Head Start. I heard from working parents and service providers about the challenges and obstacles that stand in the way of their educational and career opportunities.

Just last month, I visited La Clinica de Familia's Early Head Start Child Care Partnership Center. The center cares for children while their parents work or further their education at New Mexico State University and Dona Ana Community College. I had a chance to read ``Brown Bear, Brown Bear,'' which is not only one of the children's favorite books, but it is also one of my favorite books. My kids loved that book when they were little.
I think it is time to build on the progress we have seen demonstrated through the data at programs like these. It is time to bring in more stakeholders and start actively changing the trajectory of these families and communities. This is the type of challenge that will have to be fought on the frontlines through public-private partnerships on college campuses and in community centers, on ball fields and in health clinics, and in our towns both large and small. No matter what your ZIP Code is, you should have an opportunity to use already existing Federal resources or attract private investment to implement the two-generation approach in your community because, as the data suggests, it works.

That is exactly what the Two-Generation Economic Empowerment Act aims to achieve.

I wish once again to thank my colleague Senator Collins for her hard work to help create this legislation, and I also thank the great minds at places like Ascend at the Aspen Institute and great advocacy organizations in my home State of New Mexico, such as New Mexico Voices for Children, for working with me and my staff on these real, innovative solutions to create more economic mobility.

As we work to advance this bipartisan bill in the Senate, I hope the rest of my colleagues will see why this is an issue that should not only be bipartisan but should command our urgent attention because the status quo is not something any of us should accept.

It is important to note that our proposal doesn't add any new Federal spending or add to the deficit. Our legislation simply takes existing funding programs that we already have in place and makes sure we are investing more wisely, more efficiently, and more effectively to meet the needs of our children and their families. This is a fiscally responsible way to proceed, and it is a moral imperative.

We all know that all the potential we could ever ask for sits in homes, churches, and classrooms across this great Nation. By helping parents, grandparents, and children overcome poverty and pursue their dreams together, we can put whole families on a path toward economic security and create a greater economic future for all of our communities.
I yield the floor.

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