Lucille Roybal-Allard: “I join the National Head Start Association in opposing this bill. At a time when our Nation's at-risk families are…”

“I join the National Head Start Association in opposing this bill. At a time when our Nation's at-risk families are suffering on multiple levels due to sequestration and the Republican government shutdown, a piecemeal approach like this one is not in anyone's best interest. This disingenuous Republican effort would selectively fund some education programs while failing to provide funding for others that poor children and their families rely on. The National School Lunch Program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Title I, after-school, special education, and rural education programs, among others, are all left out of this bill. It's unconscionable that our Nation's most vulnerable children are being denied Head Start services because of Speaker Boehner's refusal to bring to the floor a clean bill to open the government. Let's stop this charade of pitting seniors against children, veterans against families, one group of Americans against another. Let's open the government and serve all our countrymen.”