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Statement

This Is Not the End. Congress Must Pass the Measures Moms, Families, Businesses and Our Economy Urgently Need.

December 19, 2021
Paid Family & Medical Leave, Early Care & Education, Health Care, Immigration

Lisa Lederer, 202/371-1996

Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO of MomsRising, the online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, on the announcement by U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) that he will not support the Build Back Better Act at this time:

“Senator Manchin’s announcement this morning that he will not support the Build Back Better Act at this time is both a stinging disappointment and a call to action to lawmakers to find a way to pass the essential measures this bill contains. America’s moms expect Senator Manchin, and the U.S. Senate, to return to the negotiating table and pass Build Back Better in early 2022. Unless they do, Sen. Manchin and all 50 Senate Republicans will have to answer for every child who goes hungry, every mom who can’t take or keep a job without affordable child care, every family who plunges into debt without paid leave, every child care program that closes, every person who gets sicker or dies because they can’t afford their prescriptions, every senior or person with a disability forced into an institution without affordable home- and community-based care, every long-settled immigrant who can’t participate in our workforce, every worker who leaves the care workforce because the pay is impossibly low, and every business that can’t fully open because it cannot find enough workers to fill open positions.

“We are well aware that Sen. Manchin is not the only West Virginia Senator who is currently opposing this essential bill, that Republicans in Congress are so determined to prevent what might be perceived as a Democratic accomplishment that they are voting against the urgent interests of their constituents, local businesses, and our national economy. But that type of cynicism and cruelty simply cannot prevail.

“The Build Back Better Act will help families cope with inflation by lowering their child care and other costs. It is a job-creator that will provide millions of good jobs for women, and an important companion to the Infrastructure Bill, which created jobs mostly in male-dominated sectors. It is the long-awaited, urgently needed answer to the crises families and businesses face time after time without a care infrastructure.   

“This is not a time for strife or finger-pointing among lawmakers of the same party. It’s time to find a way to make progress for America’s moms, families, businesses and our economy. We know that is possible because we’ve seen Congress do it with the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill. Our country needs the vitally important measures the Build Back Better Act contains, so moms, families, businesses, and our economy can thrive.”

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.