[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6165-6166]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                      CCDBG AND HEAD START FUNDING

  (Mr. SESTAK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SESTAK. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about increasing 
support and funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant and 
the Head Start programs. We know these two Federal programs provide 
critical resources to support our Nation's children, educators and 
working families.
  At a time when almost 12 million children under age 5 are currently 
in child care, the resources for their care and early education 
continue to be stretched after 7 straight years of nearly flat funding. 
The stagnant support for these programs has caused thousands of 
children to lose child care assistance, and fewer children today attend 
Head Start programs than 6 years ago.
  The Child Care and Development Block Grant and Head Start are proven 
programs that lead to increased cognitive and social development. The 
programs greatly improve the ability of children to succeed in school. 
Increased funding will also promote greater employment among parents 
through less time missed from work, higher incomes, and reduced rates 
of turnover.
  In my State of Pennsylvania, over 522,000 children under age 6 need 
care because the parents are hard at work trying to provide their 
children with opportunities for success. That is why I support 
increased funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant and

[[Page 6166]]

the Head Start and Early Start programs. I urge my colleagues to do the 
same.

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