Saxby Chambliss: “I rise today in favor of the amendment I am offering to H.R. 2863 that will establish pilot projects regarding pediatric…”

“I rise today in favor of the amendment I am offering to H.R. 2863 that will establish pilot projects regarding pediatric early literacy on military installations. Reach Out and Read, ROR, is a program that trains doctors and nurses to advise parents about the importance of reading aloud to their children. The program provides books for all children from the age of 6 months to 5 years receiving a check up at participating pediatric centers. From the start, the purpose of ROR was to encourage parents to read to their children and provide them with the tools to do so. This premise is the basis for the ROR model utilized by 2,337 program sites across the United States today. Currently, the program sites are all located at clinics, hospitals, office practices and other primary care sites serving more than 2 million children distributing more than 3.2 million books annually. While I am pleased that the program has a strong presence in Georgia, with over forty participating sites, I am also aware that none of the participating sites are on any of our thirteen military installations. It is important that the children growing up on our Nation's military installations are allowed the option to participate in the same federally funded programs that are offered to non-military families and children. Initially, Reach Out and Read began as a collaboration between pediatricians and early childhood educators.…”