WASHINGTON — Families gathered outside the U.S. Capitol Tuesday to “make a fuss for babies,” who they believe are being left behind by lawmakers who direct only a fraction of U.S. resources to young children.

Parents and kids representing 50 states and the District of Columbia convened for the eighth annual “Strolling Thunder.” Moms and dads pushing strollers decked out in state license plates rallied on the Capitol’s East Lawn to lobby lawmakers to fund child care, establish national paid family leave, and permanently expand the child tax credit.

Matthew Melmed, executive director of ZERO TO THREE, the organization behind the event, rallied parents to tell their representatives that the 11 million babies in the U.S. “make up 3.4% of our population, but 100% of our future.”

“You’re here with the pork producers and the insurance lobby and the pharmaceutical industry. Members of Congress don’t normally see real people, and they rarely see babies and toddlers, particularly babies and toddlers who need to have their diapers changed on their desks. And that’s what I encourage you to do if you need to have that happen,” Melmed told the crowd.

The nonprofit ZERO TO THREE bases its advocacy on health and developmental research findings in infants up to age 3, the years the group describes as “the most important for lifelong mental health and well-being.”

Melmed praised top Democratic appropriators Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut for achieving a $1 billion increase for child care block grants and Head Start in this year’s government funding bills.

DeLauro, who spoke to the crowd, said “families deserve better.”

“The cost of living has increased year after year, and more and more Americans simply do not get paid enough to live on, let alone to raise a family,” the Connecticut lawmaker said, promising to advocate for the reinstatement of a fully refundable child tax credit.

‘Diapers, child care, formula’

Candace Winkler, a former Alaska resident and current ZERO TO THREE leader, sat on the Capitol lawn next to Sabrina Donnellan who traveled to D.C. from Girdwood, Alaska, with her 13-month-old Blakely to advocate for lower child care costs and paid family leave.

Winkler, the organization’s chief development and strategy officer, said the group of families would divide up in the halls of Congress Tuesday to meet with their representatives about six key policy issues, including permanently expanding the child tax credit to pandemic levels.

“We’ve seen that time and time again that families are using those resources for diapers, child care, formula and things their babies and their family needs. And it’s really critical for their success,” WInkler said.

The current child tax credit is $2,000 a year after tax liability, but the amount a parent could receive per child under 17 in a refund check is capped at $1,600 in 2023. The credit phases in at 15% on every dollar after earnings of $2,500.

As the U.S. was digging out from under the COVID-19 economic crisis, Congress approved a one-year expansion of the tax credit to $3,000 per child under age 18, and $3,600 for those under age 6 — including for families who made $0 in income. Lawmakers made the entire amount refundable, and a portion of it was sent to families in monthly installments.

Advocates hailed the research findings that showed the temporary move was a game changer for lifting children from poverty in the U.S.

A current bipartisan proposal, widely supported by U.S. House lawmakers, to temporarily expand the child tax credit until 2025 — though not to pandemic levels — is currently stalled by U.S. Senate Republicans who liken aspects of the bill to a welfare program.

The proposal, as passed by the House, would increase the credit’s refundable portion to $1,800 in 2023, $1,900 in 2024 and $2,000 in 2025. The legislation would also increase the phase-in rate to 15% per child, simultaneously — in other words, 30% for a family with two children, 45% for a family with three, and so on.

Credit card debt for child care

Cruz Bueno, a parent from Warwick, Rhode Island, shared her story of racking up credit card debt to enroll her 11-month-old Rosie in child care, along with her 2-year-old sister Amalia.

“Putting Rosie into daycare means that we must put a halt to our dream of buying a home,” said Bueno, an economist who lives in Warwick with her husband, Xhuljan Meta.

“One of the stipulations of our mortgage pre-approval was to keep our credit card balances low. Even so, we remain hopeful that one day in the not-so-distant future we will be able to buy a home to raise our girls and pass on wealth to them,” she said.

When asked about the Strolling Thunder event at Tuesday morning’s regularly scheduled House Republican press conference, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said, “There’s lots of ideas out there. What we stand for, what our party stands for, is support of families. We support infants and children, and there’s an appropriate role to play in that.”

“The devil’s always in the details on legislation, so I’m not sure exactly what they’re proposing, but all of us are looking at those avenues. We want to support families. That’s good public policy,” Johnson said. “In our view, the best way often for the government to do that is to step back and allow the local and state officials to handle their business at that local level.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik, House Republican Conference Chair, said the GOP is “proud to be a pro-family conference.”

“There are many of our members who have proposed innovative solutions — one is rural child care. Home-based child care, that’s an issue I’ve worked with many of my colleagues on the Education and Workforce Committee,” Stefanik, of New York, said. “But the economy, the border, crime, these issues, these crises caused by Joe Biden, they impact every family.”

“Failure to preserve this information could have serious consequences,” Wistow wrote.

Wistow and attorney Jonathan Savage are in the process of investigating who might be at fault for the bridge’s failure, declaring earlier this month it was “open season” on any potential defendants.

The letter also invites each company to inspect the bridge — under supervision ― before it is demolished, taking with it any evidence that the companies might want to use in their defense.

“While that investigation proceeds, efforts are already underway to stabilize the bridge (so that it does not catastrophically collapse) and, eventually, to demolish and replace it,” Wistow wrote. “Those efforts cannot be delayed. … We are inviting you to inspect the bridge now, prior to its demolition.”

The companies have until May 11 to contact the firm to schedule an inspection.

Reached by phone, Wistow said the 12 companies have all either done construction, design or inspection work on the bridge. He said he could not say if these are the only possible defendants in the case, or if there could be others.

“We do not yet know who any defendants will be,” Wistow wrote in the letter. “Therefore, you should not interpret your receipt of this letter to mean that you will be named as a defendant if suit is brought. You may consider it prudent to notify your insurance carrier of this letter.”

The companies that received the letter are AECOM Technical Services, Steere Engineering, PRIME AE Group, Cardi Corporation, Barletta Heavy Division, Aetna Bridge Company, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Commonwealth Engineers & Consultants, TranSystems Corporation, Collins Engineers, Michael Baker International, Jacobs Engineering Group.

Six of the firms are based in Rhode Island or Massachusetts.

It’s not immediately clear how long it would take for the companies to inspect the bridge if all of them choose to take the state up on the offer. But Wistow told the Globe the process of allowing potential defendants to inspect it would not delay the demolition.

“We’re not going to sit here and keep it in a pristine condition for you to come and inspect it,” Wistow said.

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation last week put out a call for companies to bid to demolish the bridge, a process that is slated to start in July and end in March 2025.

The DOT on Tuesday separately issued a request for bids to build the new bridge, which is slated to open sometime in 2026.

The westbound span of the Washington Bridge was abruptly shut down on Dec. 11 after an engineer doing work on the bridge flagged a “critical failure.”

The bridge, which used to carry 90,000 cars a day over the Seekonk River to Providence, was initially expected to be repaired and reopened within three months. But new problems were uncovered during inspections, prompting McKee to announce in March that the state will demolish and reconstruct the bridge.

The eastbound span, which is a separate and newer bridge, remains open and is now being used for both eastbound and westbound traffic on I-195.

McKee has promised a “day of reckoning” for anyone involved in the bridge’s failure. The state was in the process of rehabilitating the structure when the failure was discovered.

The lawsuit is focused on contractors that might result in money recouped for the state, but Wistow said if the investigation finds that any Department of Transportation employees were at fault, that would be reported.

“There’d be very little point of suing DOT,” Wistow said. “But if we uncover something about DOT that was inappropriate, we’re going to report it to the proper authorities.”

See more coverage of the Washington Bridge closure in R.I.

Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado. Brian Amaral can be reached at brian.amaral@globe.com. Follow him @bamaral44.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Independent Man will be heading back home.

Just in time for the state’s Independence Day, the Independent Man will be returned to public view this Saturday, May 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. as part of a State House open house.

With a new layer of gold leaf, it will be available for viewing during the State House’s regular weekday hours of operation through the summer.

Plans are currently underway to return the Independent Man to the top of the State House this fall, once a replacement marble base, using Georgian marble from the original quarry, is completed.

In a statement, Governor Dan McKee said:

“As promised, I want to make sure that Rhode Islanders have another chance to see the Independent Man up close and experience an exciting part of Rhode Island history before the statue returns to its perch later this year. He has his shine back, and I have to say, he is looking sharp.” 

Last fall, the statue was removed after that the marble base of the statue was revealed to be compromised. A team was hired to restore it.