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The military needs to be family-friendly because so many members of the military are married and have children. One study shows that 54 percent of service members are married and that 46 percent of them have children with an average of two per family.
Child care can present a challenge when a mother or father is deployed especially if the spouse who stays home is employed outside the house.
At Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base in past years the demand for child care had far exceeded capacity. Parents were put on a long waiting list. Something needed to be done.
A New Child Care Center
Working with leaders at Offutt I was able to secure $12.8 million in federal funds for a new Child Development Center. Last week I was honored to be a part of the ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the center.
The $12.8 million for this desperately needed center was in the form of an earmark. That's right. One of those "earmarks" we hear so much about in the news where critics try to portray them as wasteful government spending.
Support for Earmarks
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that none of the military parents whose children will be taken care of at Offutt's new Child Development Center would think of this as wasteful government spending.
I'll go even further. With the vast support members of the military have across the country, I would guess that most patriotic Americans wouldn't think of this as wasteful government spending. If they do, I would love to hear their argument.
You won't find opposition though because most people understand that we are in the debt of members of our military and we must provide for their needs.
Seeing to the Needs of Military Families
Taking care of their needs doesn't just mean making certain they have the necessities required when they're sent into harm's way on behalf of their country.
It means that we, as a Nation, have the responsibility to take care of them and their families to the best of our ability at home.
That includes making sure their children have decent and affordable child care.
Earmarks Fund Worthwhile Projects
That's the way it is for the vast majority of earmarks. They fund worthwhile and needed projects like Offutt's Child Development Center.
When it comes to earmarks, one bad apple does not spoil the bushel.
This new Child Development Center is a great step in providing new opportunities for the children of military personnel stationed at Offutt Air Force Base.
It is a small way of giving back a little to the families of members of the military who have done, and continue to do, so much for all of us.
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