At Strolling Thunder Rally, Senator Murray Meets With Washington State Family, Urges Colleagues to “Think Babies” and Invest In Programs to Support Policies to Help Babies and Families Thrive
At Zero to Three’s annual
Strolling Thunder Event, Senator Murray highlighted the need to invest
in paid family leave, high-quality, affordable child care, and access to
health care
Families from all 50 states,
including Washington state, came to Capitol Hill to advocate for
programs that help babies and their families thrive
Senator Murray shared her own story of advocating for her own children, urged families to keep joining together
Senator Murray: “If someone ever tells you that you can’t make a difference, it’s probably because they’re afraid you will”
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senator
Patty Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Senate health and education
committee, spoke to parents, families, and advocates at the Strolling
Thunder rally, urging parents to keep fighting for policies that help
babies grow and thrive. Senator Murray shared her own story of fighting
to save her children’s preschool program and vowed to keep fighting for
programs to support families and babies, including affordable, highly
quality child care, paid family leave, and access to health care.
Senator Murray also met with the Perillo family from Washington state,
who shared their struggles of balancing work with caring for their
11-month-old daughter Olivia.
“I’m so glad to have all of you here
fighting with me. I know efforts like yours can have an impact because
I’ve seen it. We mobilized thousands of parents around our state—and we
won. We saved the program. So I can’t help but think of that lesson
today, as I look out on this crowd of moms and dads in tennis shoes—and
babies in strollers. If someone ever tells you that you can’t make a
difference, it’s probably because they’re afraid you will.”
Senator Murray has long been a champion of
issues to support babies, including paid family leave, child care, and
access to health care. As a former preschool teacher, Senator Murray
understands the difference early childhood education can make in a
child’s life, and helped secure the largest increase in the Child Care Development Block Grant funding ever last year. Building on that success, Senator Murray introduced the Child Care for Working Families Act earlier this year. She’s also a supporter of paid family leave legislation, and has worked to increase access to health care for all working families.
