[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 15, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1725]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1725]]
               HUMAN SERVICES REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1998

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 14, 1998

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise in support of the 
bipartisan Community Opportunities and Educational Services Act, which 
reauthorizes and strengthens some of our most important programs to 
help needy families: Head Start, LIHEAP, and the Community Services 
Block Grant.
  I am pleased that the Committee has chosen to drop counterproductive, 
controversial amendments that would have undermined the quality of Head 
Start programs, and instead has emphasized efforts to improve the 
quality of services the program offers. I am particularly pleased that 
the Early Head Start 0-3 program is being expanded, although I would 
urge the conferees to adopt the 0-3 set-asides in the Senate bill. 
Recent scientific discoveries have highlighted the importance of the 
highest possible quality care in the early years of life. Under the 
Senate legislation, only one in every 25 eligible babies would be 
served by the Head Start program; the House bill provides $185 million 
less over five years than the Senate-passed legislation.
  I am also pleased that the Committee is reauthorizing the Low Income 
Home Energy Assistance Program, which has assisted so many needy 
families in my home state of Connecticut and throughout the country. 
Too many seniors and families with children are forced to go without 
food or prescription drugs during the winters' coldest days because 
they do not have enough money to pay their heating bills and other 
necessities. And who can forget the deaths in the midwest last year 
caused by the heat. Seniors who owned air conditioners but were too 
afraid of the bills to turn them on suffered heat-related illnesses and 
even died simply because they didn't have the money to pay their energy 
bills. As we reauthorized the LIHEAP program at $1.1 billion, I call on 
the House to reject the Labor-HHS appropriations bill which eliminates 
funding for LIHEAP for next year, and provide full funding for this 
important program.
  The Community Services Block Grant also provides vital services to 
low income families, including child care, weatherization assistance, 
home delivery of meals to seniors, and other vital programs. This block 
grant, which is administered by community groups throughout the 
country, helps to create a safety net for our most vulnerable citizens.
  I commend the Committee for its bipartisan legislation, and urge my 
colleagues to support this bill.

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