August 6, 1992 PRESIDENT BUSH ON CHILD CARE +quot;Our challenge today is to take this demo

August 6, 1992


                  PRESIDENT BUSH ON CHILD CARE

     "Our challenge today is to take this democratic system of
     ours -- a system second to none -- and make it better, a
     better America...[w]here women working outside the home
     can be confident their children are in safe and loving
     care -- and where government works to expand child care
     alternatives for parents."

                                   --   President George Bush
                                        January 31, 1990     

Summary:  Child Care Assistance that Preserves Parental Choice

o    During his 1988 campaign, George Bush made a commitment to
     provide child care assistance to those in need.  Unlike the
     Democrats, who advocated a system of government control and
     regulation that would have limited parental choice, then-Vice
     President Bush advocated, and ultimately signed into law, a
     system based on individual freedom -- the freedom to choose
     what is best for one's children, free from government control. 
     
o    The four guiding principles which underlie the President's
     approach to child care are:

     --   Parents, who are best able to make decisions about their
          children, should have the power to do so;

     --   Federal policy should support both parents who work at
          home and those who work outside the home;

     --   Federal policies should increase, not decrease, the range
          of child care choices available to parents; and

     --   New assistance should be targeted to families most in
          need.

     These principles are embodied in the new child care program
     enacted in 1990.

President Bush's Child Care Proposals of 1990

o    Reflecting his deep commitment to child care reform based on
     principles of parental choice, the President proposed child
     care legislation in 1990; his proposals were incorporated into
     the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 which he signed
     into law in November 1990.  It provides:

     --   maximum parental -- not government -- control over child
          care.  Eligible parents may choose their own child care
          arrangements, whether by relatives, neighbors, child care
          centers in religious institutions, or others;

     --   a large increase in the basic earned income tax credit; 

     --   a larger tax credit for families with two or more
          children;

     --   a "wee tot" supplement to the earned income tax credit
          that helps mothers stay at home with children under the
          age of one;

o    These measures will increase help to low-income families by
     $31 billion through vouchers and credits over the next five
     years.

o    The Act also authorized $2.4 billion over the first three
     years for Child Care and Development Block Grants to fund
     vouchers to states for child care for low-income families with
     a parent who is working.

o    States are required to make certificates available to parents
     so that they can choose the child care provider of their
     choice, including church-based child care.

o    The At-Risk Child Care Program helps families at risk of going
     on welfare if they do not receive assistance in paying for
     child care.