Head Start Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today to present H.J. Res. 84, the Head Start for Low-Income Children Act. This bill provides Federal funding at the current, post-sequester rate for the Head Start program, which millions of children across the country rely on to fulfill their educational and health needs.

As we work our way out of this government shutdown mess, we shouldn't let some of our most vulnerable citizens--low-income children with no recourse--suffer. In my home State of Kentucky, 20,715 kids rely on Head Start to provide a helping hand. If we don't do anything about this today, 2,800 kids in Kentucky will lose access to Head Start programs starting November 1.

This bill provides funding for Head Start at an annual rate of $7.586 billion. This funding will help reopen the doors to the more than 1,600 Head Start programs across the country. As before, the funding will last until December 15 or until we enact full-year appropriations.

This is another step the House is taking to alleviate the burden of this current fiscal dilemma and move us closer to ending the government shutdown.

The nine bills the House has passed since October 1 to reopen the government--this will be the 10th--constitute nearly one-third of the Federal Government's discretionary budget. These 10 bills fund very critical programs, cleanly, as the Senate has demanded, and have been supported on a bipartisan basis in this House.

So why are these bills still sitting on Harry Reid's desk?

Why is the Senate not making every stride it can to help our Nation's disadvantaged children, hungry families, and our veterans?

This method of funding the government is not my preferred way, Mr. Speaker, nor is it the standard, but while we work to find an end to the shutdown, we should fund those programs we can as soon as we can.

I hope that my colleagues in the Senate will take this opportunity to meet us at the negotiating table. We've got a great deal to work out, but this can't be done if we are not willing to talk and listen to each other.

It is the time-honored way, Mr. Speaker. When the two bodies disagree on something, each body passes a bill, and we send it to conference with the other body. That's what should be done here.

In fact, this body, several days ago now, appointed conferees on this topic and sent it over to the Senate, only to be met by a loud snore.

So, Mr. Speaker, I want us to get together and talk about ending this shutdown. Though I wish we were able to end the shutdown in its entirety, this bill will at least reopen one indispensable government program and lessen the toll that the shutdown is taking on the American people.

This Congress is facing a great deal of difficult choices in the near future, but taking care of our children should be a top priority. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I can't believe what I just heard. The gentlelady was describing the importance of the Head Start program in glowing terms, and yet she turns around and tells us she's going to vote against funding for the Head Start program. That's a puzzle to me.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am really puzzled. We hear speaker after speaker on the other side tell us how committed they are to these poor children in the Head Start program, and yet here's the chance, Mr. Speaker, to continue this program. Yes, it does not include the entire government, but are we going to hold hostage these kids from poor families who are desperate for this program. Are we going to hold them hostage, or are we going to go ahead and approve this short-term funding for the Head Start program?

If you believe in Head Start, it seems to me you would stand in the well and say: I support this bill because it continues the Head Start program.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, we have heard here today what we have heard in the last several days from the other side--that they will not vote for any of these individual bills because we are not bringing the entire continuing resolution before the House.

But let me point out: with this bill--the 10th in this series that we brought out in a so-called piecemeal fashion--it will take us to about a third of the CR, the original continuing resolution. So we are passing the continuing resolution one piece at a time, but nevertheless we are passing a continuing resolution.

To say that I am not going to vote for this bill because you don't have all of the bills before us doesn't have much logic to it. It means that every bill that comes before the House could be argued the same way: I won't vote for that bill because it doesn't fund whatever or enact whatever piece of legislation that is waiting in the wings.

Now, Mr. Speaker, this is about Head Start. It is not about health care; it is not about procedure; it is not about whether or not this is piecemeal or full, or what have you. It is about Head Start. If you believe in the Head Start program and the hundreds of thousands of young children in this country--and families--that are depending on this program, it seems to me you would lay everything else aside and vote for that program, which I am asking our Members to do as I close.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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