[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 18, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CELEBRATING THE FIFTY-SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HEAD START PROGRAM

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                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 18, 2022

  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the fifty-seventh 
anniversary of the Head Start program, which was founded on the idea 
that people of all backgrounds can lead productive lives and thus 
deserve the opportunities that education makes possible. Since its 
creation on May 18, 1965, Head Start has fostered the cognitive, 
social, physical, and emotional development of tens of millions of 
children from low-income families across America and has helped set 
them up for success before they begin their educational journeys in 
school.
  When President Lyndon B. Johnson introduced Head Start as part of his 
`War on Poverty,' he said that the program would go down in history as 
`one of the most constructive, and one of the most sensible, and also 
one of the most exciting programs that this Nation has ever 
undertaken.' His words proved prescient, as even today, more than a 
million American pre-school children participate in Head Start each 
year. These students are not the only ones who benefit from the 
program. Early-education teachers gain insights from research conducted 
by Head Start administrators. Parents gain access to affordable child 
care and job training, allowing them to work to improve their families' 
well-being. By every measure, this program is delivering enormous 
benefits to our country and the children who will be its future.
  The overwhelming success of Head Start, however, belongs to the 
communities that support it. Head Start depends on the dedication of 
more than a million volunteers--most of whom are the parents of Head 
Start children--who devote hours of their time to the program. Their 
work is crucial at a time when more than 6 million American children, 
or nearly 15 percent of all kids in the United States, live in poverty. 
When data was last reported in 2019, it revealed that 59,000 families 
participating in Head Start had been experiencing homelessness. Thanks 
in part to Head Start's services, however, more than a quarter of these 
families were able to find housing that same year.
  From expanding programs like the Children's Health Insurance Program 
to implementing the Child Tax Credit to help families weather the 
COVID-19 pandemic, House Democrats continue to take action aimed at 
eradicating child poverty in our country. Head Start will remain one of 
our greatest tools to combat child poverty in the years ahead, and we 
must continue to ensure that it has the support and resources it needs 
to carry that work forward. As President Johnson said when he created 
Head Start: `five- and six-year-old children are inheritors of 
poverty's curse and not its creators.' These children today can help us 
build a better and stronger America for tomorrow, but only if we invest 
in their growth, wellbeing, and opportunity.

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