Providing for Consideration of H.R. 1429, Improving Head Start Act of 2007
Floor Speech
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1429, IMPROVING HEAD START ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - May 02, 2007)
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Ms. CASTOR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 348 provides for consideration of H.R. 1429, the Improving Head Start Act of 2007, under a structured rule.
The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and the ranking minority member of the Committee on Education and Labor. The rules waive all points of order against the bill except those arising under clauses 9 or 10 of rule XXI. The rule makes in order and provides appropriate waivers for 12 amendments, all contained in the committee report.
Mr. Speaker, for more than 40 years Head Start has served as the premier educational and developmental program for more than 20 million American children and families. Head Start works. It works because it is a well-researched, comprehensive initiative that combines children's educational needs with health care and parent outreach.
This comprehensive approach to child health, nutrition and learning is one of our best tools to tackle the achievement gap in education for children living in poverty across our Nation.
The achievement gap begins far before children enter elementary school. Head Start tackles the achievement gap through cognitive, social and emotional child development, each of which is a key contributor to entering elementary school prepared to succeed.
Today 20 percent of America's 12 million children under age 6 live in poverty. We know that a family's income level greatly affects their children's access to educational opportunities. The reality of poverty for so many children, unfortunately, is tied to low success rates in our classrooms. This is true in my home State of Florida. In my community in the Tampa Bay area, over 5,300 children currently are served by Head Start, but many thousands more are on waiting lists and are eligible.
They are on waiting lists because for so many years previous Congresses have failed to reenact Head Start, and the White House has proposed flat-line budgets, so our kids merely have been treading water. With no improvements or increases in funding since 2003, and inflation going up, it has become more difficult to maintain the well-known, high-quality elements in Head Start.
The good news is that this new Congress will change that today and make the smartest investment for our country's future workforce. We are going to put more kids on the path to success when we pass this bill and rule today.
This bill will improve teacher and classroom quality, strengthen the focus on school readiness, expand access to thousands more children across America, strengthen comprehensive services, increase the number of children in early Head Start, because we are a lot smarter these days based upon the research that has been done on early child development and the development of the brain. We are going to allow homeless children to enroll, and we are going to do a better job, my colleague from Florida, for children who are just learning English.
On Monday, I paid a visit to the West Tampa Head Start Center and delivered books to the kids and teachers to mark the four decades of smashing success of this holistic, wraparound initiative that empowers all of us. These children are eager and ready to learn if we give them the tools.
We need to raise strong and healthy children. Head Start prepares children to succeed in school and in life. The administration's slow-motion cuts of Head Start over past years will now be reversed. The American people stood up in November and asked for change, and today we are going to stand up for them.
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Ms. CASTOR. Mr. Speaker, I anticipate on the floor of the House today we will hear some debate over the role of faith-based organizations in Head Start. Republicans would like language that would repeal existing civil rights protections in this Head Start law that ensure the program's Federal funds discriminate, and we are opposed to that.
No citizen should have to pass a religious test to qualify for a publicly
funded job. That is exactly what some on the other side of the aisle will attempt to do today.
Religious organizations who run Head Start programs are not asking for this change. They have written us to oppose it. Head Start teachers and staff should be chosen because they are qualified and they are effective teachers who will help children succeed and thrive. Hiring and firing decisions should not be made because of a teacher's religion.
This is part of an ongoing attempt, I am afraid, by some on the other side of the aisle to make religion a wedge issue.
Democrats strongly support faith-based organizations running Head Start programs, and H.R. 1429 on the floor today specifically reaffirms that faith-based organizations may run Head Start programs.
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Ms. CASTOR. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the Improving Head Start Act of 2007 and this rule so that we infuse Head Start with the necessary investments and program enhancements that will sustain Head Start for years to come. We will chart a new course in the right direction by ensuring family incomes do not impede a child's access to educational opportunities.
The fact that the administration and the past few Congresses did not keep the promise to America's children is unfortunate. We have lost ground. But the good news is that this new Democratic Congress is charting a new direction. This includes wise investments in the education and health of our kids, which are certain to pay dividends for years to come.
Mr. Speaker, this is an important day for America. The Congress is going to keep the promise made 4 decades ago to children who are born with the same potential but, because of their life circumstances, are in need of a little extra attention, health care, nutrition, the guiding hand of a knowledgeable, talented, devoted teacher, and a true head start.
I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.
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