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Floor Speech
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Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, my colleagues have said it so well. Very briefly, I want to thank Senator Murray and all my colleagues who have done such good work.
Let me start by saying that we Democrats are generally not supposed to use the words ``supply-side economics.'' I want everybody to understand we have to be supply-siders on childcare. We desperately need more childcare facilities. We need more built. And I have no qualms about saying as a proud Democrat and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee I am a supply-sider on the issue of childcare.
I will say that everywhere I go in my State, big communities and small communities, there are waiting lines, very long waiting lines, for childcare. It is absolutely unacceptable.
We have to increase our supply. We passed a number of good pieces of legislation. We have more to do.
Point No. 2 is this is a fundamental issue of American productivity. We know that we are trying to compete in tough global markets. The President of the Senate, in my part of the world, California, Oregon, and the West, we have a geographical advantage, a leg up on China. Let's not give it away with the absence of good childcare facilities.
You have to have childcare in order to be able to get to work and know that your kid is going to be OK while you are gone making a living.
Finally, the third point that I would make is that we need to tap all the resources that are available in our communities--all of them. Child care centers, in-home child care, and we should also be thinking of how to partner with churches.
This isn't a red or blue issue. It's not a rural or urban issue. It's an everyone issue. So our committees, working together, can do this. But we ought to utilize all our resources.
I am going to make this a filibuster-free zone. My colleagues have all said it, you know, really well. Supply-side economics for getting us more childcare facilities. Let's focus on this as a productivity issue, a competitiveness issue. Third, let's utilize all the resources in our communities.
I congratulate all my colleagues, and it is great to see the Finance Committee stalwarts out in force.
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