[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 86 (Monday, May 22, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       RECOGNIZING THE 58TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HEAD START PROGRAM

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                       HON. BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 22, 2023

  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 58th 
anniversary of the Head Start program and the invaluable services it 
makes available to children and families in need. The Head Start 
Project was launched in 1965 as a comprehensive child development 
program. President Lyndon Johnson commissioned Sargent Shriver with the 
establishment of a comprehensive program that would assist underserved 
communities in meeting the needs of preschool aged children. With the 
help of education, psychology. and child experts, the U.S. government 
initially launched ``Project Head Start'' as an eight-week summer 
program that reached 561,000 children. Finding early success, the 
program was expanded in the fall of 1965 to provide services throughout 
the entire school year. In the subsequent decades, Head Start has 
further grown to include bilingual and bicultural programs, as well as 
services for disadvantaged infants, toddlers, and pregnant women 
through Early Head Start grants.
  Over the last six decades, the Head Start Program has provided a 
window of opportunity to more than 37 million vulnerable children and 
their families. Now serving nearly 1 million children and their 
families annually in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto 
Rico, and the U.S. territories. Head Start's exceptional dedication to 
our children is truly remarkable, and this year, as it celebrates its 
58th anniversary, we express our appreciation for the impact that Head 
Start has had on communities across the country and especially in Bucks 
and Montgomery counties.

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