I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3121 

To expand child care opportunities for members of the Armed Forces, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 11, 2021 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mrs. BICE of Oklahoma, Ms. JACOBS of California, 

Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CASE, Mr. CASTRO of 

Texas, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. KAHELE, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PORTER, Ms. ROSS, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Ms. STRICKLAND, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TURNER, Mr. VELA, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, and Ms. 

WILD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To expand child care opportunities for members of the 

Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Child Care 

5 Expansion Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF PILOT PROGRAM TO PROVIDE FI2 NANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO MEMBERS OF THE 

3 ARMED FORCES FOR IN-HOME CHILD CARE. 

4 Section 589 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry Na5 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 

6 (Public Law 116–283) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)(3)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘Secretary shall—’’ and all 

9 that follows through ‘‘private sector; and’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘Secretary shall take into consider11 ation qualifications for in-home child care pro12 viders in the private sector.’’; and 

13 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

14 (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

15 following: ‘‘The Secretary of Defense may expand 

16 the pilot program to additional locations.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM TO EXPAND ACCESS TO CHILD 

18 CARE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

21 shall establish a pilot program to expand access to child 

22 care for members of the Armed Forces by entering into 

23 agreements with public or private child care facilities or 

24 development centers. 

25 (b) SCOPE.—In carrying out the pilot program, the 

26 Secretary shall— 


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1 (1) seek to enter into one or more memoranda 

2 of understanding with one or more eligible civilian 

3 child care centers or facilities to reserve slots for 

4 qualified families in locations in which— 

5 (A) the Department of Defense lacks a 

6 child development center; or 

7 (B) the wait lists for the nearest Depart8 ment of Defense child development center, 

9 where applicable, indicate that qualified families 

10 may not be accommodated; and 

11 (2) select five locations that the Secretary de12 termines have the greatest unmet demand for child 

13 care services for children of members of the Armed 

14 Forces, including at least one facility in each loca15 tion that offers extended or flexible hours to provide 

16 care after hours and on weekends. 

17 (c) ANNUAL ASSESSMENT OF RESULTS.—Not later 

18 than one year after establishing the pilot program under 

19 subsection (a), the Secretary shall undertake a current as20 sessment of the impact of the pilot program on access to 

21 childcare facilities or child development centers for quali22 fied families. 

23 (d) REPORTS.— 

24 (1) INTERIM REPORTS.—Not later than one 

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1 gram and twice annually thereafter, the Secretary 

2 shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services 

3 of the Senate and the House of Representatives an 

4 interim report on the pilot program. Each interim 

5 report shall include the following elements: 

6 (A) The number of military families par7 ticipating in the pilot program, disaggregated 

8 by location and duration of participation. 

9 (B) A breakdown of the total cost, includ10 ing any subsidies or financial assistance, 

11 charged by the childcare facility or child devel12 opment center. 

13 (C) The impact of the program on wait 

14 times at Department of Defense child care de15 velopment centers. 

16 (D) The feasibility of expanding the pilot 

17 program. 

18 (E) Recommendations for legislation or ad19 ministrative actions that the Secretary deter20 mines necessary to make the pilot program per21 manent. 

22 (F) Any other information the Secretary 

23 determines appropriate. 

24 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 

25 after the termination of the pilot program, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3121.IH H3121

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1 retary shall submit to the Committees on Armed 

2 Services of the Senate and the House of Representa3 tives a final report on the pilot program. The report 

4 shall include the following elements: 

5 (A) The elements specified in paragraph 

6 (1). 

7 (B) The recommendation of the Secretary 

8 whether to make the pilot program permanent. 

9 (e) EXPANSION.—Based on the recommendations in10 cluded in the interim reports, the Secretary may expand 

11 the scope of the pilot program to include more than five 

12 locations if the Secretary determines access to childcare 

13 is improved and such expansion would likely benefit De14 partment of Defense families. 

15 (f) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall termi16 nate 10 years after the date on which the Secretary estab17 lishes the pilot program. 

18 (g) ELIGIBLE CIVILIAN CHILD CARE CENTER OR FA19 CILITY DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘eligible civil20 ian child care center or facility’’ has the meaning given 

21 the term ‘‘eligible provider’’ in section 1798(b) of title 10, 

22 United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF CAUSES OF POOR OR FAILING 

2 CONDITIONS AT CHILD DEVELOPMENT CEN3 TERS OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND 

4 COSTS TO IMPROVE SUCH CONDITIONS. 

5 (a) DETERMINATIONS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

7 shall determine— 

8 (A) the root causes contributing to poor or 

9 failing facility conditions at child development 

10 centers of the Department of Defense; and 

11 (B) the total cost to improve the facility 

12 conditions of such centers to at least fair condi13 tion, as determined by the Secretary. 

14 (2) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

16 shall submit to Congress a report on the determina17 tions of the Secretary under paragraph (1). 

18 (b) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW AND REC19 OMMENDATIONS.—Not later than one year after the date 

20 on which the Secretary submits to Congress the report 

21 under subsection (a)(2) on the determinations of the Sec22 retary under subsection (a)(1), the Comptroller General 

23 of the United States shall— 

24 (1) review such determinations; and 

25 (2) submit to the Secretary and Congress rec26 ommendations on how to improve the facility condiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3121.IH H3121

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1 tions at child development centers of the Depart2 ment. 

3 SEC. 5. TEMPORARY PROGRAM TO USE MINOR MILITARY 

4 CONSTRUCTION AUTHORITY FOR CONSTRUC5 TION OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

6 (a) THRESHOLDS ON CONSTRUCTION AUTHOR7 IZED.—The Secretary of Defense shall establish a pro8 gram to carry out minor military construction projects 

9 under section 2805 of title 10, United States Code, to con10 struct child development centers. 

11 (b) INCREASED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS APPLICABLE TO

12 MINOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.—For the purpose of 

13 any military construction project carried out under the 

14 program under this section, the amounts specified in sec15 tion 2805 of title 10, United States Code, are modified 

16 as follows: 

17 (1) The amount specified in subsection (a)(2) of 

18 such section is deemed to be $25,000,000. 

19 (2) The amount specified in subsection (c) of 

20 such section is deemed to be $25,000,000. 

21 (c) NOTIFICATION AND APPROVAL REQUIRE22 MENTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The notification and ap24 proval requirements under section 2805(b) of title 

25 10, United States Code, shall remain in effect for 


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1 construction projects carried out under the program 

2 under this section. 

3 (2) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall estab4 lish procedures for the review and approval of re5 quests from the Secretaries of military departments 

6 to carry out construction projects under the program 

7 under this section. 

8 (d) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary of Defense shall submit to the congressional 

12 defense committees a report on the program under 

13 this section. 

14 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para15 graph (1) shall include a list and description of the 

16 construction projects carried out under the program 

17 under this section, including the location and cost of 

18 each project. 

19 (e) EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority to 

20 carry out a minor military construction project under the 

21 program under this section expires on the date that is 10 

22 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

23 (f) CONSTRUCTION OF AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 

24 section may be construed to limit any other authority proVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3121.IH H3121

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1 vided by law for a military construction project at a child 

2 development center. 

3 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) The term ‘‘child development center’’ has 

5 the meaning given that term in section 2871 of title 

6 10, United States Code. 

7 (2) The term ‘‘congressional defense commit8 tees’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

9 101 of title 10, United States Code. 

Æ 


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