“Yes! The letter House Ways & Means Committee Chair Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) circulated to colleagues yesterday is powerful and persuasive and demonstrates how well he understands the needs and priorities of working families. We applaud Rep. Neal’s commitment to including comprehensive paid leave, child care, and permanent improvements to the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit in the infrastructure bill Congress is about to consider. They are among the most pressing issues facing moms and our country today.

“As reported in Politico, the Washington Post, and elsewhere, Neal’s letter says, in part: ‘The impossible choices we impose on caregivers put our nation at a competitive disadvantage … If it is the road that gets you to work, it is the child care that gets you through the day, and workers are counting on these supports.’ He is right. Due to the pandemic, women’s labor force participation has plunged to a 30-year low and without comprehensive paid leave and quality, affordable child care, any recovery will leave millions of women – and especially Black, Indigenous and people of color – behind.

“Rep. Richard Neal is the kind of leader America needs now, as we rebuild our economy in what we hope are the waning months of the pandemic.

"Families suffered terribly because lawmakers allowed the pandemic emergency paid leave and paid sick days provisions to expire. During the pandemic and after it ends, working people need paid leave so they can recover from illnesses and care for family members without sacrificing their financial security and risking a fall into poverty. Investing in a care infrastructure will boost moms and families, and in particular women of color who have experienced compounded economic and health harms in the pandemic due to structural racism. America’s moms will enthusiastically support Rep. Neal in this work. There’s no time to waste.”