ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, before my colleague leaves the floor -- senator cardin -- i want to really express my appreciation for his statement today, speaking particularly about the judy centers, which have meant so much in maryland to show the way you really do child care in a way that is family centered, child focused and through the so-called wrap around services, help the child not only with all that's necessary in a well-run child-care facility, but by working with the family to strengthen the family, help the family perhaps even get the knowledge about other opportunities to improve their life, educational benefits, for example, and it's i think, a national model. if i had my way, i would like to adopt the judy center model throughout america. but this is what our -- so i want to thank you for speaking about it. i also want to thank you for your steadfast advocacy for children. the way you have worked for the childr

ms. mikulski: thank you. i now yield the floor to senator baldwin of wisconsin, one of our newest members but not new to this issue. her record in the house on advocacy for children is well known and well respected. senator baldwin. the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. ms. baldwin: thank you. thank you, mr. president. thank you, madam chairwoman. in america, we know that quality education and a fair shot at work is the path to the middle class, and economic security and getting ahead. and today we have an opportunity to make an important bipartisan action to help strengthen that path to the middle class. for many families in this country, quality affordable child care is a challenge that they struggle with every morning. this is why president george h.w. bush signed the child care and development block grant into law in 1990, to ensure that working families have access to quality affordable child care. and today i join a bipartisan group of my senate colleagues in calling for reauthorization of

ms. mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: before i speak on the childcare and development block grant, i have 11 unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and the is the minority leaders and i ask these these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: madam president, i'm so pleased to bring to the floor the very important bipartisan legislation, the childcare and development block grant of 2014. standing here today to really speak on behalf of families and children across this nation. i'm excited to bring this bill for two reasons. one, the content that it represents. a reauthorization framework for the childcare and development block grant, one of the most important tools that families have to be able to afford childcare so that they may go to work. it is a childcare development bill, and it is a work assessment bill. but i'm also proud of the proc

ms. mikulski: mr. president, i want to thank the gentlelady from maine and alaska for their comments as well as the gentlelady from washington state. wasn't that impressive? i mean for the last hour on both sides of the aisle the women of the senate have spoken out. yet this bill was not a woman's bill. this was a family bill where the men and women of the senate came together on a bipartisan basis and have developed a framework for a sensible, affordable rethoargs of the childcare and development block grant. i'm so pleased to be part of this with senator harkin, the chair of our health-education committee, senator lamar alexander, and senator richard burr, my counterpart on the subcommittee where we work so hard to do this. but then we talked among ourselves, we the women in the senate often joke, but it's no laughing matter when we say we work on the macro issues of our economy, of our national security but we also work on the macaroni and cheese issues affecting america's families, and there's no b

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: as we close into the final minutes of this bill, i just want to say today will be a great victory for america's children because we will pass the child care and development block grant and i think it's a great victory for the senate to show that weebd govern ourselves with an open amendment process, do it diligently, do it deliberative deliberatively and with courtesy and civility. this is the way the senate should be and within two days we've arrived at a great bill, cooperation and civility on both sides of the aisle. i hope that this becomes a model for the way the senate will conduct itself for the rest of this session. i've been very proud to be part of this bill, i'd like to thank senator richard burr of north carolina, my republican counterpart on the children's committee, all the due diligence we did for a year and a half, we are a year and a half to senator lamar alexander for his steadfast leadership and input, and, of course, to tom harkin, our leader, who as he wr