School Readiness Act of 2005
SCHOOL READINESS ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - September 22, 2005)
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). Pursuant to House Resolution 455 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 2123.
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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time.
I am pleased that we have a bipartisan bill here. I want to congratulate the chairman, congratulate the ranking member, and congratulate the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) for coming out with a bipartisan bill.
Unlike the bill considered by the House in 2003, this legislation does not attempt to block grant Head Start programs, which was controversial. I think that is good for the passage of this bill. Furthermore, it strengthens academic content, improves teacher quality, promotes better coordination between Head Start and other early childhood programs, and it strengthens accountability.
My wife supervised Head Start in our jurisdiction for many years. There are 24 Judy Centers around the State of Maryland right now, many of which include Head Start.
This bill was reported out of committee almost unanimously, if not unanimously. Unanimously. While the underlying bill contains long-standing nondiscriminatory provisions, and I congratulate the committee for that, there is an amendment lurking that will undermine that bipartisanship and, not only that, undermine an extraordinarily fundamental principle in our country: we do not discriminate. We do not countenance discrimination.
The previous gentleman indicated he does not know of any instance where there has been discrimination. I agree with that. I have never had anybody contact me ever, and this is my 37th year in public office. Never, from 1967 to today, have I had somebody come to me and say this is a problem. The committee has seen fit to report out a bill which does not allow discrimination. Why? Because there is no problem here. Frankly, the gentleman from Louisiana is trying to create a problem where there is none. We ought to reject that amendment.
If we do not reject that amendment, the overwhelming majority of us on this side of the aisle are going to vote against this bill. That is unfortunate because we are all for Head Start. It is a program that works. It is a program that is important. It is a program that we ought to reauthorize. And I urge us to support this bill, but reject a crippling amendment to be offered by the gentleman from Louisiana.
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