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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release January 19, 1999

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Tonight, in my State of the Union address, I will outline my agenda to help parents struggling to meet their responsibilities at work and at home. This agenda includes an ambitious initiative to make child care safer, better, and more affordable for America's working families. Today, Senator Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) and many of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate have taken an important step toward reaching that goal by introducing the Affordable Child Care for Early Success and Security Act (A.C.C.E.S.S.).

This proposal, like mine, significantly increases child care subsidies for poor children, provides greater tax relief to help low- and middle-income families pay for child care and to support parents who chose to stay at home to care for their young children. This plan dramatically increases after-school opportunities, encourages businesses to provide child care for their employees, promotes early learning and school readiness, and improves child care quality.

The Child Care A.C.C.E.S.S. Act builds on the longstanding commitment of Senator Dodd and the co-sponsors of this legislation to improving child care for our nation's children. I look forward to working with Members of Congress in both parties to enact child care legislation this year that will help Americans fulfill their responsibilities as workers, and, even more importantly, as parents.

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