[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 118 (Thursday, September 28, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S9462]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   GEORGIA EARLY LEARNING INITIATIVE

 Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, with a focus on the horizon and a 
knowledge of where we've been, I come before you today to laud a group 
that has dedicated its time and resources to Georgia's youth in 
attempts to secure a brighter future for us all. Throughout its 
existence, The Georgia Early Learning Initiative, a collaboration of 
business and labor leaders, health and human service providers, 
educators, and legislators, has sought to increase access to, and 
funding for, early education throughout our state.
  As a reflection of today's fast-paced society, households 
increasingly boast two working parents who can neither afford to miss 
work nor pay the often exorbitant cost of childcare in our country. In 
fact, while only forty percent of children are cared for by a parent 
all day, sixty-seven percent of Georgia mothers with children under age 
six are in the workforce. Increasingly, many parents want to stay home, 
yet have no choice but to work. However, it takes a dedicated and 
selfless group of people to bring about results; there is no greater 
champion of Georgia's children and investment in the future than The 
Georgia Early Learning Initiative.
  A child's pre-school years are more important than we have previously 
acknowledged. With 554,430 Georgia children currently enrolled in 
preschool, and the knowledge that ninety percent of human brain 
functions develop during the first three years of life, early learning 
and improved childcare are perhaps more important than ever before. It 
is our responsibility as a nation and leaders to support activists who 
are willing to fight for worthy causes, especially when those causes 
will benefit generations to come. We owe it to our children to provide 
equal access to early learning options which will place them on a 
secure footing and will allow them to excel in life. It is the mission 
of the dedicated men and women who comprise the Georgia Early Learning 
Initiative to increase childcare choices for parents and to extend the 
opportunity to succeed to all of America's children, no matter what 
their family's station in life. In the future, we will only be as 
strong as our children. As Pearl Buck said, ``If our American way of 
life fails the child, it fails us all.''
  As I think back to where we have been and once again focus on the 
glorious horizon, I cannot help but feel optimistic about our future 
knowing that men and women like those working with the Georgia Early 
Learning Initiative continue to fight for a better tomorrow for all of 
our children.

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