88 Representatives Sign Letter Supporting Head Start and Child Care
One of my favorite aspects of my job is getting excited emails from RESULTS volunteers across the country, excited when their members of Congress have taken an action because they worked hard to make the issue a priority for the policymaker and their staff. Earlier this month, Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI-5) and Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA-19) circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter urging House leaders to protect Head Start and child care services. This letter urges House appropriators to allocate a $325 million increase for Head Start and Early Head Start in FY 2013. This allows for a more substantial cost of living increase that reflects costs of keeping qualified staff and some expansion of Early Head Start services for infants and toddlers. In addition, it requests a $825 million increase for the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) in FY 2013, which will help make up some ground lost last year when some of the CCDBG slots created in 2009 and 2010 were cut.
In total, 88 representatives signed this letter, sending a strong message to House leaders that early childhood investments must be a priority in next year’s budget. As I read through the names on the letter, I can’t help but think about the RESULTS volunteers who made those signatures appear — congratulations to all of you who took action! The final letter is posted on our website, and here is a list of all the signers (alphabetical by state):
1. Dale Kildee (D-MI-5) (lead)
2. Todd Platts (R-PA-19) (lead)
3. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-7)
4. Mike Ross (D-AR-4)
5. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA-6)
6. Barbara Lee (D-CA-9)
7. John Garamendi (D-CA-10)
8. Jerry McNerney (D-CA-11)
9. Jackie Speier (D-CA-12)
10. Pete Stark (D-CA-13)
11. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-16)
12. Sam Farr (D-CA-17)
13. Lois Capps (D-CA-23)
14. Judy Chu (D-CA-32)
15. Karen Bass (D-CA-33)
16. Janice Kay Hahn (D-CA-36)
17. Laura Richardson (D-CA-37)
18. Linda Sanchez (D-CA-39)
19. Bob Filner (D-CA-51)
20. Diane DeGette (D-CO-1)
21. Jared Polis (D-CO-2)
22. Earl Perlmutter (D-CO-7)
23. Jim Himes (D-CT-4)
24. Christopher Murphy (D-CT-5)
25. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-AL)
26. Frederica Wilson (D-FL-17)
27. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-20)
28. John Lewis (D-GA-5)
29. Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI-1)
30. Mazie Hirono (D-HI-2)
31. Mike Quigley (D-IL-5)
32. Danny Davis (D-IL-7)
33. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9)
34. Andre Carson (D-IN-7)
35. Bruce Braley (D-IA-1)
36. Leonard Boswell (D-IA-3)
37. John Yarmuth (D-KY-3)
38. Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1)
39. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-MP-AL)
40. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD-2)
41. John Sarbanes (D-MD-3)
42. Donna Edwards (D-MD-4)
43. Elijah Cummings (D-MD-7)
44. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD-8)
45. John Tierney (D-MA-6)
46. Stephen Lynch (D-MA-9)
47. Gary Peters (D-MI-9)
48. Sander Levin (D-MI-12)
49. Hansen Clarke (D-MI-13)
50. John Conyers (D-MI-14)
51. John Dingell (D-MI-15)
52. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-5)
53. Shelley Berkley (D-NV-1)
54. Rush Holt (D-NJ-12)
55. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM-3)
56. Albio Sires (D-NJ-13)
57. Timothy Bishop (D-NY-1)
58. Jerry Nadler (D-NY-8)
59. Edolphus Towns (D-NY-10)
60. Yvette Clarke (D-NY-11)
61. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY-12)
62. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-14)
63. Louise Slaughter (D-NY-28)
64. Charles Rangel (D-NY-15)
65. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-1)
66. Mike McIntyre (D-NC-7)
67. Melvin Watt (D-NC-12)
68. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH-10)
69. Dan Boren (D-OK-2)
70. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1)
71. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3)
72. Robert Brady (D-PA-1)
73. Chaka Fattah (D-PA-2)
74. Mike Doyle (D-PA-14)
75. David Cicilline (D-RI-1)
76. Jim Langevin (D-RI-2)
77. Al Green (D-TX-9)
78. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX-15)
79. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX-16)
80. Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX-18)
81. Charles Gonzalez (D-TX-20)
82. Bobby Rush (D-VA-1)
83. Jim Moran (D-VA-8)
84. Gerald Connolly (D-VA-11)
85. Peter Welch (D-VT-AL)
86. Jim McDermott (D-WA-7)
87. Ron Kind (D-WI-3)
88. Gwen Moore (D-WI-4)