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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, In response to fast-growing defense industries
3during World War II, Congress passed the Defense Housing and
4Communities Facilities and Services Act of October 1940, 54
5Stat. 1125 (commonly known as the Lanham Act), to fund various
6national defense public works projects; and
 
7    WHEREAS, One of the public works projects funded under the
8Lanham Act concerned the construction and maintenance of child
9care facilities nationwide in communities that lacked
10sufficient child care services to meet the growing demand for
11women to enter the workforce and contribute to the nation's war
12production effort; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The child care program implemented under the
14Lanham Act operated from 1943 to 1946 and provided funding not
15only for the construction of child care facilities, but also to
16help cover the costs associated with teacher training
17activities, teacher salaries, and meal services provided at
18child care facilities; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Although the child care program implemented under
20the Lanham Act was viewed as a temporary practical solution to
21the economic and social demands placed on families,
22specifically mothers with children, during World War II, many

 

 

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1child care advocates consider the Lanham Act a turning point in
2this country's long-standing policy on child care because it
3created the first, and only, federally subsidized child care
4program for children regardless of family income; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Many child care advocates have studied the social
6and economic implications of the child care policy established
7under the Lanham Act and have argued that it increased maternal
8employment as well as children's educational attainment, labor
9force participation, and earnings as adults; and
 
10    WHEREAS, In light of these positive outcomes, child care
11advocates have called for a return to the child care policy
12established in the Lanham Act and for a permanent commitment by
13the federal government to make affordable and high-quality
14child care services accessible for all working families;
15therefore, be it
 
16    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
17NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
18respectfully urge Congress to pass legislation in support of
19universal child care services for working families and to
20provide sufficient and sustainable funding for a permanent
21child care program similar to the federally administered
22program created and implemented under the Lanham Act of 1940;
23and be it further

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That after adoption, suitable copies of this
2resolution be delivered to the Speaker and Minority Leader of
3the United States House of Representatives, the Majority and
4Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, and the members
5of the Illinois congressional delegation.