[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 21137-21138]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, due to Hurricane Rita 
approaching the Texas Gulf Coast and the Houston area, I have been 
excused from today's proceedings.
  I would like my positions regarding votes taken on H.R. 2123, the 
School Readiness Act, and amendments to this Act entered into the 
Congressional Record. Let the Record reflect I would have voted the 
following way: Rollcall No. 486--``yes''; rollcall No. 487--

[[Page 21138]]

``yes''; rollcall No. 488--``yes''; rollcall No. 489--``yes''; rollcall 
No. 490--``yes''; rollcall No. 491--``no''; and rollcall No. 492--
``no.''
  I would also vote for final passage of H.R. 2123.
  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, September 22, 2005, I was not 
present to vote, on H.R. 2123, the School Readiness Act of 2005, as I 
was in my district making preparations for Hurricane Rita's landfall.
  Had I been present, I would have voted as follows:
  The vote on final passage would have been a difficult one for me, but 
I would have ultimately been forced to vote against the bill. Using 
Federal funding to run a program should preclude that program from 
discriminating in hiring decisions. Our country has a strong tradition 
of religious freedom, and I cannot support a vote that chooses to 
ignore that. However, that should not diminish the fact that I remain a 
strong supporter of education and the Head Start program.
  Additionally, as a Hispanic member of Congress, I recognize the 
importance of civil rights in our country. America has fought hard to 
rectify transgressions of the past, and to turn back that work is not a 
position I can endorse. H.R. 2123 unanimously passed out of committee--
demonstrating clear bipartisanship and maintaining the longstanding 
civil rights provision which has been part of the Head Start program 
since 1972. It was designed to protect over 198,000 Head Start teachers 
and staff and over 1,450,000 parent volunteers from employment 
discrimination based on religion in federally-funded Head Start 
programs, and should not have been eroded.
  Rollcall No. 478--``no''; rollcall No. 479--``yes''; rollcall No. 
480--``yes''; rollcall No. 481--``yes''; rollcall No. 482--``yes''; 
rollcall No. 483--``yes''; rollcall No. 484--``yes''; rollcall No. 
485--``yes''; rollcall No. 486--``no''; rollcall No. 487--``yes''; 
rollcall No. 488--``yes''; rollcall No. 489--``yes''; rollcall No. 
490--``yes''; rollcall No. 491--``no''; rollcall No. 492--``no''; and 
rollcall No. 493--``no.''
  Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, on September 22, 2005, I returned to my 
district to prepare for Hurricane Rita, which was projected to hit 
southwest Louisiana, and I was unable to be present during House 
consideration of H.R. 2123, ``School Readiness Act of 2005.'' 
Consequently, I missed rollcall No. 488 on amendment No. 2 offered by 
Representative Souder, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.'' 
I also missed rollcall No. 489 on amendment No. 4 offered by 
Representatives Stearns; had I been present, I would have voted 
``aye.'' On rollcall No. 490 on amendment No. 5 offered by 
Representative Davis, I would have voted ``aye.'' On rollcall No. 491 
on amendment No. 10 offered by Representative Musgrave, I would have 
voted ``aye.'' On rollcall No. 492 on amendment No. 12 offered by 
Representative Boehner, I would have voted ``aye.'' On rollcall No. 493 
on the passage of H.R. 2123, ``School Readiness Act'' I would have 
voted ``aye.''

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