SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The need for quality nursery schools, both 
full-time and part-time child care centers and after- 
school programs, neighborhood-run mothers-day-out 
programs, and family child care providers has grown 
among working parents, and parents who stay at 
home, who want their children to have access to 
early childhood education. 
(2) All parents should have access to safe, stim-
ulating, and educational early childhood education 
programs for their children, whether such programs 
are carried out in a child care center, a part-time 
nursery school (including a nursery school operated 
by a religious organization), or a certified child care 
provider’s home. 
(3) The number of available enrollment oppor-
tunities for children to receive quality child care 
services is not meeting the demand for such services. 
(4) In 1995 there were about 21,000,000 chil-
dren less than 6 years of age, of whom 31 percent 
were participating in center-based child care services 
and 14 percent were receiving child care in homes. 
Between 1992 and 2005 the participation of women 
24 to 54 years of age in the labor force is projected 
to increase from 75 percent to 83 percent. 
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(5) In States that have set up a mechanism to 
provide capital improvements for child care facilities, 
the demand for services of such facilities still has 
not been met. 
(6) The United States is behind other western, 
industrialized countries when it comes to providing 
child care services. In France, almost 100 percent of 
all children 3 to 5 years of age attend nursery 
school. In Germany this number is 78 percent. In 
Japan 90 percent of such children attend some form 
of preschool care. In all of these countries early 
childhood care has proven to increase children’s de-
velopment and performance. 
SEC. 3. INSURANCE FOR MORTGAGES ON NEW AND REHA-
BILITATED CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT 
FACILITIES. 
Title II of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1707 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 257. MORTGAGE INSURANCE FOR CHILD CARE AND 
DEVELOPMENT FACILITIES. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to fa-
cilitate and assist in the provision and development of li-
censed child care and development facilities. 
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‘‘(b) GENERAL INSURANCE AUTHORITY.—The Sec-
retary may insure mortgages (including advances on such 
mortgages during construction) in accordance with the 
provisions of this section and upon such terms and condi-
tions as the Secretary may prescribe and may make com-
mitments for insurance of such mortgages before the date 
of their execution or disbursement thereon. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE MORTGAGES.—To carry out the pur-
pose of this section, the Secretary may insure any mort-
gage that covers a new child care and development facility, 
including a new addition to an existing child care and de-
velopment facility (regardless of whether the existing facil-
ity is being rehabilitated), or a substantially rehabilitated 
child care and development facility, including equipment 
to be used in the operation of the facility, subject to the 
following conditions: 
‘‘(1) APPROVED
MORTGAGOR.—The mortgage 
shall be executed by a mortgagor approved by the 
Secretary. The Secretary may, in the discretion of 
the Secretary, require any such mortgagor to be reg-
ulated or restricted as to charges and methods of fi-
nancing and, if the mortgagor is a corporate entity, 
as to capital structure and rate of return. As an aid 
to the regulation or restriction of any mortgagor 
with respect to any of the foregoing matters, the 
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Secretary may make such contracts with and acquire 
for not more than $100 such stock or interest in 
such mortgagor as the Secretary may consider nec-
essary. Any stock or interest so purchased shall be 
paid for out of the General Insurance Fund, and 
shall be redeemed by the mortgagor at par upon the 
termination of all obligations of the Secretary under 
the insurance. 
‘‘(2) PRINCIPAL OBLIGATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the mortgage shall involve a 
principal obligation in an amount not to exceed 
80 percent of the estimated value of the prop-
erty or project, or 85 percent of the estimated 
value of the property or project in the case only 
of a mortgagor that is a private nonprofit cor-
poration or association (as such term is defined 
pursuant to section 221(d)(3)), including— 
‘‘(i) equipment to be used in the oper-
ation of the facility when the proposed im-
provements are completed and the equip-
ment is installed; or 
‘‘(ii) a solar energy system (as defined 
in subparagraph (3) of the last paragraph 
of section 2(a)) or residential energy con-
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