[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1572 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1572
To expand child care opportunities for members of the Armed Forces, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 11, 2021
Ms. Duckworth (for herself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Klobuchar,
Mrs. Murray, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Gillibrand, and Mr.
Bennet) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To expand child care opportunities for members of the Armed Forces, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Military Child Care Expansion Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF PILOT PROGRAM TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO
MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES FOR IN-HOME CHILD CARE.
Section 589 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(3)--
(A) by striking ``Secretary shall--'' and all that
follows through ``private sector; and'' and inserting
``Secretary shall take into consideration
qualifications for in-home child care providers in the
private sector.''; and
(B) by striking subparagraph (B); and
(2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:
``The Secretary of Defense may expand the pilot program to
additional locations.''.
SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM TO EXPAND ACCESS TO CHILD CARE TO THE DEPARTMENT
OF DEFENSE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall establish a pilot
program to expand access to child care for members of the Armed Forces
by entering into agreements with public or private child care
facilities or development centers.
(b) Scope.--In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary
shall--
(1) seek to enter into one or more memoranda of
understanding with one or more eligible civilian child care
centers or facilities to reserve slots for qualified families
in locations in which--
(A) the Department of Defense lacks a child
development center; or
(B) the wait lists for the nearest Department of
Defense child development center, where applicable,
indicate that qualified families may not be
accommodated; and
(2) select five locations that the Secretary determines
have the greatest unmet demand for child care services for
children of members of the Armed Forces, including at least one
facility in each location that offers extended or flexible
hours to provide care after hours and on weekends.
(c) Annual Assessment of Results.--Not later than one year after
establishing the pilot program under subsection (a), the Secretary
shall undertake a current assessment of the impact of the pilot program
on access to childcare facilities or child development centers for
qualified families.
(d) Reports.--
(1) Interim reports.--Not later than one year after the
Secretary establishes the pilot program and twice annually
thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on
Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives
an interim report on the pilot program. Each interim report
shall include the following elements:
(A) The number of military families participating
in the pilot program, disaggregated by location and
duration of participation.
(B) A breakdown of the total cost, including any
subsidies or financial assistance, charged by the
childcare facility or child development center.
(C) The impact of the program on wait times at
Department of Defense child care development centers.
(D) The feasibility of expanding the pilot program.
(E) Recommendations for legislation or
administrative actions that the Secretary determines
necessary to make the pilot program permanent.
(F) Any other information the Secretary determines
appropriate.
(2) Final report.--Not later than 90 days after the
termination of the pilot program, the Secretary shall submit to
the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of
Representatives a final report on the pilot program. The report
shall include the following elements:
(A) The elements specified in paragraph (1).
(B) The recommendation of the Secretary whether to
make the pilot program permanent.
(e) Expansion.--Based on the recommendations included in the
interim reports, the Secretary may expand the scope of the pilot
program to include more than five locations if the Secretary determines
access to childcare is improved and such expansion would likely benefit
Department of Defense families.
(f) Termination.--The pilot program shall terminate three years
after the date on which the Secretary establishes the pilot program.
(g) Eligible Civilian Child Care Center or Facility Defined.--In
this section, the term ``eligible civilian child care center or
facility'' has the meaning given the term ``eligible provider'' in
section 1798(b) of title 10, United States Code.
SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF CAUSES OF POOR OR FAILING CONDITIONS AT CHILD
DEVELOPMENT CENTERS OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND COSTS TO
IMPROVE SUCH CONDITIONS.
(a) Determinations.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense shall determine--
(A) the root causes contributing to poor or failing
facility conditions at child development centers of the
Department of Defense; and
(B) the total cost to improve the facility
conditions of such centers to at least fair condition,
as determined by the Secretary.
(2) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a
report on the determinations of the Secretary under paragraph
(1).
(b) Comptroller General Review and Recommendations.--Not later than
one year after the date on which the Secretary submits to Congress the
report under subsection (a)(2) on the determinations of the Secretary
under subsection (a)(1), the Comptroller General of the United States
shall--
(1) review such determinations; and
(2) submit to the Secretary and Congress recommendations on
how to improve the facility conditions at child development
centers of the Department.
SEC. 5. TEMPORARY PROGRAM TO USE MINOR MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AUTHORITY
FOR CONSTRUCTION OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.
(a) Thresholds on Construction Authorized.--The Secretary of
Defense shall establish a program to carry out minor military
construction projects under section 2805 of title 10, United States
Code, to construct child development centers.
(b) Increased Maximum Amounts Applicable to Minor Construction
Projects.--For the purpose of any military construction project carried
out under the program under this section, the amounts specified in
section 2805 of title 10, United States Code, are modified as follows:
(1) The amount specified in subsection (a)(2) of such
section is deemed to be $25,000,000.
(2) The amount specified in subsection (c) of such section
is deemed to be $25,000,000.
(c) Notification and Approval Requirements.--
(1) In general.--The notification and approval requirements
under section 2805(b) of title 10, United States Code, shall
remain in effect for construction projects carried out under
the program under this section.
(2) Procedures.--The Secretary shall establish procedures
for the review and approval of requests from the Secretaries of
military departments to carry out construction projects under
the program under this section.
(d) Report Required.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the
program under this section.
(2) Elements.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall
include a list and description of the construction projects
carried out under the program under this section, including the
location and cost of each project.
(e) Expiration of Authority.--The authority to carry out a minor
military construction project under the program under this section
expires on the date that is 10 years after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
(f) Construction of Authority.--Nothing in this section may be
construed to limit any other authority provided by law for a military
construction project at a child development center.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Child development center.--The term ``child development
center'' includes a facility, and the utilities to support such
facility, the function of which is to support the daily care of
children aged six weeks old through five years old for full-
day, part-day, and hourly service.
(2) Congressional defense committees.--The term
``congressional defense committees'' has the meaning given that
term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code.
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