March 7, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 41 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages H2507-H2508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      MOTHERS RUNNING FOR ELECTED OFFICE FACE CHILDCARE OBSTACLES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Porter) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I am a single mom. When I ran for Congress 
last year, I spent thousands and thousands of dollars on childcare.
  Running for Federal office requires 60- to 90-hour workweeks, and I 
worked every single day, including every single weekend. I also worked 
challenging hours, normally starting my day at 6:45 a.m. and ending 
with campaign events stretching late into the evenings.
  I juggled dozens and dozens of childcare providers for nearly 2 
years, without whom I would never have made it to Congress.
  I have three children, Betsy, who is 7; Paul, who is 10; and Luke, 
who is 13. Leaving them alone while I was on the campaign trail was not 
an option. Bringing them along on the campaign trail was often 
impossible or inappropriate and sometimes could even have been 
dangerous for them.
  For the past two centuries, Congress has written many, many laws 
about what women may and may not do. But until this year, women's 
representation in Congress was less than 20 percent. With the election 
of my historic class, we hit 23.4 percent--102 women.
  But, Mr. Speaker, that number is still very low. There are even fewer 
moms in Congress and even fewer single moms, as in nobody but me. A 
major barrier to women running for elected office is their inability to 
afford the amount or type of childcare needed in a campaign.
  That is why I worked to include language in H.R. 1, the For the 
People Act, and introduced an identical standalone bill, the Help 
America Run Act. It explicitly allows candidates for Federal office to 
use campaign contributions to pay for childcare.

[[Page H2508]]

  Right now, candidates can use campaign funds for a whole range of 
expenses, from pizza for exhausted staff to cybersecurity for digital 
devices, but the law does not make it clear that childcare is among 
those allowed expenses.
  Like so many laws, there is an assumption of a female caregiver 
behind every male elected official. In part because of that, moms who 
continue to shoulder the majority of childcare responsibilities also 
struggle to run for Congress.
  Until women are fully and equally present in Congress, women's 
perspectives will continue to be underrepresented. The result is a 
weaker democracy for the people.
  Mr. Speaker, I very much look forward to the enactment of H.R. 1 and 
the Help America Run Act.

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