HERO Child Care for Military Families Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4335 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4335 To address the challenges of providing child care opportunities for military families, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 16 (legislative day, April 14), 2026 Ms. Ernst (for herself and Mrs. Shaheen) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To address the challenges of providing child care opportunities for military families, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Helping Ensure Reliable Opportunities in Child Care for Military Families Act'' or the ``HERO Child Care for Military Families Act''. SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE PROVIDERS FOR DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROGRAMS. (a) Removal of Prior Service Requirement.--Section 1798(b) of title 10, United States Code, is amended-- (1) in paragraph (1), by striking the semicolon and inserting ``; and''; (2) by striking paragraph (2); and (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2). (b) National Service Volunteers.--Subchapter II of chapter 88 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1792 the following new section: ``Sec. 1792a. Child care employees: additional authorities ``(a) National Service Volunteers.--(1) The Secretary of Defense may seek to enter into an interagency partnership with a Federal agency with the ability to place individuals described in paragraph (2) in military child development centers in accordance with national service laws and with all the benefits accorded to such individuals under those laws. ``(2) An individua