[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 21, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E998]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                                CHILDREN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 1997

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I am inserting my Washington Report for 
Wednesday, May 21, 1997 into the Congressional Record:

                Early Childhood Development and Learing

       President Clinton recently hosted the White House 
     Conference on Early Childhood Development and Learning. The 
     purpose was to bring together parents, scientists, policy 
     makers, child care providers and others to discuss the new 
     research on brain development in children under age 3 and to 
     explore how to deliver this information to more homes. The 
     key lesson from this research is that our ability to interact 
     with others, communicate, and learn is largely dependent on 
     what happens to us as newborns and toddlers.
       Now more than ever we know the importance of early 
     intervention, from prenatal care to preschool, to ensure that 
     children get off to a healthy start. Research shows that the 
     stimulation children receive after birth counts even more 
     than genetics to enable them to become smart and adaptable. 
     Unfortunately, there remains a huge gap between our knowledge 
     about children's needs and our success in meeting them. We 
     simply must find effective ways to apply new scientific 
     knowledge to public policy. Deprivation, abuse, and neglect 
     of children often has long-lasting, damaging effects not only 
     on them, but on our entire nation.


                            New Discoveries

       Fifteen years ago researchers thought that a baby's brain 
     structure was virtually complete at birth, as if the brain 
     were a computer just waiting to be turned on. Now we know 
     that humans come into the world with a brain that is largely 
     incomplete. Just as a sculptor shapes a lump of clay into a 
     distinct work of art, our experiences mold our brain.
       Giving children the stimulation they need to learn and grow 
     doesn't require fancy toys or classes. Research shows instead 
     that simple things can have the greatest positive impact. For 
     example, talking, singing, and reading to children from birth 
     onward helps develop the parts of their brains devoted to 
     language. In addition, holding babies and responding to their 
     cues enables them to feel secure, which helps them learn and 
     grow. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. The brains of 
     children who are abused or neglected release high levels of 
     stress hormones, which can actually hinder the brain's growth 
     and development.


                          Persistent problems

       Most parents work very hard to meet their children's needs. 
     As a nation, though, we fail our youngest citizens far too 
     often. The U.S. has the highest rate of young children living 
     in poverty of any western industrialized nation. The child 
     poverty rate has hovered at around 20% ever since 1981. Other 
     trends are even worse. In 1995, nearly one million children 
     were victims of abuse or neglect. Fourteen percent of 
     children lacked health insurance, 25% lacked immunizations 
     against preventable childhood diseases. Between 1985 and 
     1994, the percentage of low-birth-weight babies, who often 
     have multiple health problems, grew. And while the infant 
     mortality rate has improved, the U.S. still ranks 18th among 
     industrialized nations. During this same period, the number 
     of teens dying from accidents, homicides, and suicides rose 
     10%. Arrests of juveniles for violent crimes increased by a 
     staggering 70% nationwide, 125% in Indiana. And while the 
     teen pregnancy rate has leveled off in recent years, about 
     half a million children are born to teen mothers each year.
       Although most mothers of children under 4 work outside the 
     home, high-quality, affordable child care remains in short 
     supply. The federal government's Head Start program is widely 
     acclaimed, but it is available only to those age 3 and above, 
     and serves only about a third of eligible children. A new 
     program for younger children, Early Head Start, has only 
     22,000 slots for 2.9 million eligible children.


                          Proposals for change

       At the White House Conference, President Clinton announced 
     a number of worthy initiatives. First, he directed the 
     Department of Defense, which runs many high-quality child 
     care centers, to share its formula for success with state and 
     local governments and private child care centers. Second, the 
     President proposed a plan to extend health care coverage to 
     an additional 5 million uninsured children. The balanced 
     budget agreement recently announced includes funding to 
     extend health insurance to some unserved children.
       Third, the President wants to expand Early Head Start 
     enrollment by one-third next year. Fourth, the U.S. 
     Department of Education is making available early childhood 
     development activity kits to anyone who calls 1-800-USA-LEARN 
     to request one. Fifth, the Department of Justice is 
     establishing a ``Safe Start'' program to help law enforcement 
     officers respond more sensitively to children who are the 
     victims of or witnesses to violence. The President also 
     supports expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover 
     events like parent-teacher conferences.


                               Conclusion

       Parenting can be vastly rewarding, but also demands 
     enormous amounts of time, energy, patience and skill. 
     Children require not just caretakers, but caregivers. Even 
     under the best circumstances, the task of parenting can be 
     overwhelming. For parents who are very young, lack education, 
     are struggling to rise out of poverty, or who were once 
     abused themselves, the demands occasionally are too great. 
     The arguments for an expansion of support for new parents and 
     for quality child care are compelling. Communities that have 
     reached out to at-risk families with visits by social workers 
     and nurses and free parenting classes have had promising 
     results.
       Children are persistently the poorest group in America. I 
     worry that recent budget-cutting efforts in Congress have 
     focused disproportionately on the poor. We have not yet seen 
     the full effects of welfare reform, which not only included 
     time limits on welfare benefits but also restrictions on food 
     stamps and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for 
     children.
       Children have such an amazing capacity to grow and learn 
     and thrive provided there is love and patience and 
     commitment. We adults fall short of our responsibilities if 
     we fail to provide these, and we also pay the price. We need 
     to reach out to struggling parents, offering assistance and 
     advice that can help them become the strong mothers and 
     fathers most of them want to be. The very youngest Americans 
     are the ones who will lead us in the 21st century. We cannot 
     expect to prosper in the future if we do not help them 
     prosper today.

     

                          ____________________