Rep. Sara Jacobs Hosted Ranking Member Adam Smith in San Diego to Hear Directly from Military Child Care Providers, Leadership, and Industry Partners
Earlier this week, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-51) hosted House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (WA-09) in San Diego to hear from military child care providers and military spouses, meet with military leaders and industry partners, and gain insight into the military’s capabilities and shipbuilding needs.
On Monday, the lawmakers visited Naval Special Warfare Command headquarters to learn more about their capabilities and training facilities. Rep. Jacobs and Ranking Member Smith then toured the Crown Child Development Center on Coronado and participated in a roundtable with local child care providers and military spouses to highlight the need for more investments in military child care.
Rep. Sara Jacobs said: “In San Diego, the child care waitlist for military families is 4,000 spots long, undermining our military readiness and ability to recruit and retain the very best for our Armed Forces. I’m so grateful to Ranking Member Smith for coming to San Diego to hear directly from child care providers and military spouses about the challenges they’re facing in providing and finding care. I will keep pushing to invest more in military child care and other issues affecting service members’ quality of life in this year’s NDAA.”
Ranking Member Adam Smith said: “My visit to San Diego earlier this week made clear that we continue to make progress and face challenges on several fronts, including our ongoing efforts to bolster capabilities and address shipbuilding needs as well as quality of life issues for our service members and their families. I want to thank Rep. Jacobs for including me in these important and illuminating discussions as we look to build on our successes and address these and other challenges head on.”
Following the roundtable, Rep. Jacobs and Ranking Member Smith toured the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard to learn more about their work building, converting, fixing, and maintaining both commercial and national defense assets. On Tuesday, the lawmakers toured local military industry partners, including Scripps Institution of Oceanography, CAES, and General Atomics, to learn more about how the military will address and respond to threats and challenges of the future.
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