Senator Murray, Secretary Clinton, and Top Democratic Congressional Leaders Discuss Importance of Affordable Child Care for Working Women and their Families

Press Release

Last week, Senator Murray joined former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Minority Leader Pelosi, Senator Gillibrand, and Congresswoman DeLauro to speak about "Why Women's Economic Security Matters for All" at the Center for American Progress. Senator Murray highlighted the importance of investing in early learning to help children get a strong start, explained why child care helps women succeed in the workforce, and made the case that the U.S. should prioritize these important investments.

Senator Murray, a former pre-school teacher, has long championed issues of early childhood education and child care to support working women and families, introducing legislation to expand the child care tax credit, cosponsoring and calling for action on the Paycheck Fairness Act, and bringing women's voices into the discussion on how to expand opportunities for working families.

See below for excerpts from Senator Murray's remarks.

"Hillary, you and I were working on the Ready to Learn Act when you were back in our world a few years ago, and we know the science, we know the research shows that if you invest in early learning, it makes a tremendous difference…"

"And I can tell you, from a preschool teacher, every preschool teacher will tell you, it makes a difference in those children's lives. You see it in their faces, and you see it years later when you see those same faces go on to college. It's absolutely critical. But it's critical for our economy as well."

"And I worry about our competitive edge globally today. As we are talking sequestration and budget cuts and, you know, all those kinds of things, other countries are investing in early learning today because they're talking about what their economic outcome is going to be 20, 30 years from now and what their productivity will be, and they know by investing in those young kids today the ability to be competitive to us in the future. So we are moving backwards when other countries are sending very strong agendas moving forward. That's who those young kids who are in preschool today are going to be competing with in the future. And we are not making the right kinds of investments."

"…Any woman who has worked when her kids are young will tell you that they do a better job if they know their child is safe, well taken care of, and learning while they are working. Any dad will tell you the same thing."

"And if we as a country are not making sure that women can fully participate at work, we are hurting our businesses, we are hurting our families, and we are hurting our economy. So to me, this is absolutely the right kind of investment that our country should be making. We should be ahead of the curve globally, not moving backwards."

"…I think this is something that we really have to work on to reach out to our Republican colleagues and talk about the critical investments that can be made and make sure that we are focused on early learning and child care …which can be a third of a family's income -- so that can have women fully participating in our workforce. It is good for our families. It's good for our economy. It is good for the future of this country."

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