Josh Harder, one of the very few fathers serving in Congress with young children at home, helped found a new congressional caucus made up of working dads.

The Dads Caucus aims to give much-needed attention to issues faced by working parents. The caucus is currently made up of Harder and 22 other representatives with young children.

 After Harder struggled to find enough baby formula for his newborn daughter Lillian during last year’s formula shortage, he realized how few young dads there were in Congress.

Harder is more than two decades younger than the average House member – created the Dads Caucus to give young parents like him a voice in Congress.

“When I got to Congress, I was 32 years old, and last year Pam and I welcomed our daughter Lillian,” Harder said.

“When we struggled to get baby formula during the shortage last year, I realized the issue didn’t get the attention it deserved because there were very few Representatives who understood the current challenges of raising a young family. The Dads Caucus aims to change that.”

 “This caucus is the first step to making sure parents’ voices are put front and center in any policy debate. We’ll focus on issues like kids’ safety, expanding child care, and getting working parents the support they need.” 

The Dads Caucus intends to bring a sharper focus and personal perspective to issues such as access to child care, investments in health and safety, and economic opportunities for working families.

This is a continuation of Harder's work to support San Joaquin County families by lowering costs, increasing access to health care and education, and ensuring they have access to clean air and water. 

Last year during the infant formula shortage, Harder pushed for immediate action and urged officials to treat it as a national emergency to ensure parents in the Central Valley and across the country could feed their children.

Harder serves as the District 9 member of Congress. The district is composed of all of San Joaquin County except Lathrop and rural south Manteca as well as rural east Tracy.