Nancy Gerber, president of the Family Child Care chapter of SEIU local 925 sent this letter to Congress last week, in anticipation of the Senate's failed vote on a jobs, unemployment extension and state funding package.

I am a family child care provider in Spokane Valley. I have experienced a turnover in clients due to job losses, and found my self with so few clients I could barely make my own bills and faced letting my employee go as well. In my own family, 4 of my own adult children have lost their jobs.

American workers are in crisis right now.

Our state has made bone-deep cuts to vital programs and services, and the situation is predicted to get worse. We are concerned about families even being able to get child care TO go to work with cuts being considered for subsidized child care.

The only real way to lower the deficit in the long run is to grow our economy. And the smartest way to grow our economy is to create jobs -- good jobs with good wages and benefits.

I hope you'll vote "YES" on the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act that is currently before the Senate.

The families in my child care, my own children and my employee and myself are depending you!

We need Congress to support job creation and an extension of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funding immediately or more services will be cut and more jobs will be lost.

Thanks.