May 31, 2017

Duckworth Criticizes Trump Budget’s Cuts to Programs that Support New Moms, Curb Homelessness

 

[CHICAGO, IL] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) yesterday met with the staff of New Moms, an organization based in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago that supports young, struggling mothers and their children. While touring their facility, Duckworth discussed how President Trump's budget proposal would hurt new mothers and their families by eliminating the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, which coordinates a comprehensive response to homelessness across 19 federal agencies. The Trump budget would also cut funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which helps pregnant and nursing women and their children meet their nutritional needs. A photo from the meeting can be found here.

"New Moms provides a critical service to young moms who have nowhere else to turn, giving them the tools and skills they need to achieve economic independence and stability for their families," said Duckworth. "Now, more than ever, we need to make sure New Moms and similar programs across the country have the necessary resources to continue supporting struggling moms and their children. That means investing in programs that reduce homelessness and help struggling moms feed their children - not eliminating them or making drastic funding cuts like the President's budget would do."

Since being elected to Congress, Duckworth has been a staunch advocate for women and families. She recently re-introduced the Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act to ensure breastfeeding mothers traveling through large- and medium-sized airports have accessible, clean and convenient lactation rooms to use. Duckworth also helped introduce the FAMILY Act, which would create a universal paid leave program of up to 12 weeks for workers who need time to care for a newborn or adopted child, a seriously ill family member, or their own serious health condition. When Duckworth was a Congresswoman, she introduced the Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) Reauthorization Act which increase access to on-campus child care for low-income student parents.