Advocating for Children

Report From the Hill, Day Two

March 18, 2011 at 1:55 pm 4cforchildren Leave a comment

After six hours of trekking (damn those high heels) from House buildings to Senate building and through the Capitol, I report on our Hill visits. We have been doing these visits for nearly 20 years, and I believe they are very valuable in educating our elected representatives about the issues facing families. Most often we and the others who come to Washington meet with staffers who specialize in specific issues. Members of Congress cannot be experts in all areas and they rely heavily on their staff to examine issues and develop their positions.  Often the Member of Congress is in a committee meeting and not available.

Our first stop was the office of Michael Turner (R) of Montgomery, Clinton and Warren counties. Five 4C staff met with Legislative Aide Andy, a UD grad who knew a great deal about child care and our issues. As it turns out, his mother is an elementary school teacher. Whenever they speak, she first asks, “What have you learned today?” She then tells him of a particular child who is succeeding despite the odds, or perhaps struggling.  He is a compassionate and knowledgeable young man who, we are convinced, will share with the Congressman our desire to protect children and provide opportunities to children and families.

Our second visit was with Representative Steve Chabot (R) of Cincinnati. Steve is in his second go-round in Congress.  Representative Chabot was in a hearing when we arrived and his staffer lead us through tunnels and passages and byways to get to the Capitol meeting room. Steve joined us in the noisy hallway, opposite the door to the House of Representatives. We talked about budgets, reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant, the economy and putting children first. At one point he had to return to the hearing room to vote (to defund NPR, I believe) and then rejoined us to finish our discussion.

The Capital building was humming with armed security guards, room “sweeps” with dogs, and general craziness. It turns out that the President was due shortly, to have lunch with the members of Congress on the occasion of St. Patrick’s Day. Most everyone was wearing green.

Our next visit was with a staff member of newly elected Senator Rob Portman. Nine staffers from Ohio child care resource and referral agencies were present. Another dozen or so were meeting at the same time with a Fellow in Senator Sherrod Brown’s office. Senator Portman’s temporary offices are in a basement corner in a very crowded, dismal space.  We stood in a narrow hall, sharing our “children first” message, along with the specifics of child safety and the value of child care as an essential work support. Senator Portman is still building his staff, and the person we met with seemed to be absorbing the information, but we had no sense of her response.  Even the passionate and very effective parent advocate in our group, Lawrence Hall, did not elicit much of a response.

While the 4C Kentucky contingent went to visit Representative Geoff Davis (R) from Northern Kentucky, the rest of us visited the office of Jean Schmidt (R) of eastern Hamilton County, Clermont County and places east.  We were supposed to meet with the Representative (and have done so every year she has been in Congress), but today she was having lunch with the President. We had the pleasure of meeting with a Legislative Aide, Michael McQueary, whose wife, a teacher, is expecting their first child in two weeks. Michael was interested and committed to improving background checks for all those who work in child care. We referred him to ChildCareAware.org to help in his child care search. He asked that we send information about choosing quality infant care for his personal search.

On my final visit of the day, I was joined by Lawrence Hall to meet with Speaker of the House John Boehner’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephanie Milburn. Stephanie has met with us year after year and is very knowledgeable about the Child Care and Development Block Grant and other Federal supports for child care. She indicated that her boss’s new role as Speaker precludes sponsoring legislation and dictating the work of the committees but that this is an issue he will pay close attention to.

While all of our visits seemed worthwhile, we are facing the toughest budget situation I can remember. We will be following up with our Southwest Ohio Congressional delegation and staying on top of their actions on behalf of children and families.

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