[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 48 (Thursday, April 28, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 4250, LEGISLATION TO REAUTHORIZE HEAD START, LOW-
INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, AND THE COMMUNITY SERVICES BLOCK 
                                 GRANT

                                 ______


                               speech of

                           HON. LOUIS STOKES

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 26, 1994

  Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4250, 
legislation to reauthorize the critical Head Start Act, the Low Income 
Home Energy Assistance Program and the Community Services Block Grant 
Act. I commend my friend on the Education and Labor Committee, Matthew 
Martinez, for his leadership in bringing this crucial bill to the 
floor. I urge my fellow Representatives to join with our colleagues in 
the Senate, who passed a similar measure just last week, by voting in 
favor of H.R. 4250.
  Mr. Speaker, the Head Start Program continues to be the most 
successful pre-school and family support program in the History of this 
Nation. Although Head Start was designated as a summer program when 
originally enacted in 1966 as part of President Johnson's war on 
poverty, this program has dramatically expanded over the years and now 
assists children and families on a daily basis all year long. In 1966, 
Head Start received a budget of just $352 million and by fiscal year 
1994, the appropriation funding level for the program had grown to $3.3 
billion. While this figure supported more than 2,000 locally run Head 
Start programs and served over 730,000 children and their families 
during 1994, recent studies by the Advisory Committee on Head Start 
Quality and Expansion, commissioned by the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, Donna Shalala, indicate that Head Start still serves 
less than 40 percent of all eligible children.
  Reauthorizing this pivotal measure will allow more children and 
parents to enroll in Head Start, furnish these students with the books 
and supplies they need, offer teachers the compensation they serve, and 
provide managers with the training and support they require to run 
strong programs and plan for the future. Head Start has proven that 
early attention to the needs of children can make a significant 
difference in their health, educational and social development, and we 
must continue to authorize this program for these very reasons.
  Like Head Start, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program 
[LIHEAP] has played an indispensable role in assisting our Nation's 
most needy citizens. LIHEAP enables the working poor, the disabled, and 
the low-income elderly to meet their home energy needs. Since its 
inception, LIHEAP has proven to be a worthy and important program 
servicing approximately 375,000 households in my State of Ohio during 
1993 alone. By maintaninig LIHEAP we will not force our Nation's most 
vulnerable citizens into choosing between such basic requirements as 
heat and food.
  The varied needs of America's impoverished are served through Head 
Start and LIHEAP as well as through the Community Services Block Grant 
Program [CSBG]. CSBG, which provides funds to community action 
agencies, local governments and Indian tribes to operate programs 
addressing the problems of poverty and to provide advocacy services for 
the poor, has created numerous employment and business opportunities 
for individuals in economically distressed urban areas as well as 
small, rural communities. Moreover, this far-reaching initiative 
extends beyond the economic and business realm by including community 
and nutrition projects, allowing schools serving low-income communities 
to enroll in federal nutrition programs, and the National Youth Sport 
Program which provides low-income youth with day long athletic 
instruction during the summer.
  Mr. Speaker, ignoring the importance of H.R. 4250 will have a 
crippling effect on the future of our society. The provisions contained 
in this important piece of legislation, intended to both strengthen and 
expand the quality of Head Start, Low Income Home Energy Assistance 
Program and the Community Services Block Grant Program, are crucial to 
the livelihood of our Nation's neediest citizens. Without these 
programs, the quality of life for our poor children and families, and 
our poor elderly and disabled, will further deteriorate and 
consequently our country will retrogress by refusing to assist our most 
precious resource, our citizens. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on 
H.R. 4250.

                          ____________________