Lateefah Simon: “I rise today to address the House to highlight my support of Head Start. I most recently visited an organization in my…”

“I rise today to address the House to highlight my support of Head Start. I most recently visited an organization in my district called the Unity Council that serves families, parents, seniors, and children, providing them with affordable housing, career opportunities, community engagement and, yes, Head Start programs. I learned from the Unity Council that President Trump and the administration has stopped funding for the Oakland Head Start program. This means that over 600 children will not have daycare, mental health services, dental care, and basic health screenings all provided by this incredible program. The President promised, recently said he would not touch the Head Start program. Yet here we are. Nationally, over 800,000 children receive daycare support from Head Start. Cutting Head Start funding and stopping early childhood development is not efficiency. It is not trimming the fat. Cutting programs like Head Start is breaking, literally, the bones of our Nation and of our future.”