[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 23, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7542-S7543]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         EXPRESSING APPRECIATION FOR THE WORK OF MILDRED WINTER

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 126, submitted 
earlier today by Senator Bond.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 126) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate that appreciation be shown for the extraordinary work 
     of Mildred Winter as a Missouri teacher and leader in

[[Page S7543]]

     creating the Parents as Teachers program on the occasion that 
     Mildred Winter steps down as Executive Director of such 
     program.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the 
resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 126) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 126

       Whereas Mildred Winter has, with determination, expertise, 
     and unflagging energy, dedicated her professional life to 
     early childhood and parent education;
       Whereas Mildred Winter began her remarkable career as an 
     educator and leader as a teacher in the Berkeley and 
     Ferguson-Florissant School Districts in Missouri;
       Whereas Mildred Winter served as Missouri's first Early 
     Childhood Education Director from 1972 until 1984, during 
     which time the early childhood education services to Missouri 
     families and children improved and increased dramatically;
       Whereas Mildred Winter was a leader in initiating the 
     Parents as Teachers program in Missouri in 1981 to address 
     the critical problem of children entering school in need of 
     special help;
       Whereas the Parents as Teachers program gives all parents, 
     regardless of social or economic circumstances, the support 
     and guidance necessary to be their children's best teachers 
     in the critical early years;
       Whereas Mildred Winter worked to secure passage in the 
     Missouri General Assembly of the Early Childhood Education 
     Act of 1984, landmark legislation which led to the creation 
     of Parents as Teachers programs in Missouri;
       Whereas Mildred Winter is recognized as a visionary leader 
     by her peers throughout the country for her unwavering 
     commitment to early childhood education;
       Whereas Mildred Winter and the Parents as Teachers program 
     have received numerous prestigious awards at the State and 
     national level;
       Whereas today there are over 2,200 Parents as Teachers 
     programs in 49 States, the District of Columbia, and 6 other 
     countries;
       Whereas while continually striving to move the Parents as 
     Teachers program forward, in 1995 Mildred Winter recognized 
     the importance of sharing with parents what is known about 
     early brain development and the role parents play in 
     promoting that development in their children, and used this 
     foresight to develop the vanguard Born to Learn Curriculum; 
     and
       Whereas after nearly 2 decades of leadership of the Parents 
     as Teachers program, Mildred Winter has chosen to step down 
     as Executive Director of the organization: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. RECOGNITION OF MILDRED WINTER.

       That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) admiration and respect be shown for the visionary and 
     innovative work of Mildred Winter in the field of childhood 
     education; and
       (2) appreciation be shown for the work that Mildred Winter 
     has done through the Parents as Teachers program which has 
     enriched the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and 
     provided such children with a far better chance of success 
     and happiness in school and in life.

                          ____________________