Bill Nelson: “I have been to Head Start facilities all over my State. What a wonderful little academic atmosphere for these 3-, 4…”

“I have been to Head Start facilities all over my State. What a wonderful little academic atmosphere for these 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds who are starting the program, as well as those who are younger than 3. It is this little academic atmosphere where they start to learn their letters, the alphabet, and their numbers. They start to learn respect for their fellow little citizens, respect for property. In addition to that academic environment, we are looking at their health, their physical health, their mental health, their dental health. Back in July, the House of Representatives by a 1-vote margin, 217 to 216, started to sound the death knell on this fantastically successful and wildly popular program by saying, instead of funding it directly to the Head Start centers, they were going to put it in a nice little block grant and send it to eight State legislatures and Governors. You know the fiscal distress the States are in. You know the temptation it is going to be for those States if we ever entertain anything like that. To the contrary, here we have an opportunity to take a stand with the amendment of Senator Dodd, to say responsibly we are going to increase the Head Start Program that gets these little fellows, these little children, prepared to enter prekindergarten and the first grade. I support the Senator's amendment.”