Timothy Roemer: “Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment, and I do so for two reasons. First of all, I think that…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment, and I do so for two reasons. First of all, I think that in an effort to save us $10 million, this will ultimately cost us more money, both in terms of complementing, first, the Head Start Program, and second, crime preventing. And let me address both of those. The Committee on Education and Labor will shortly reauthorize the Head Start Program. We have already conducted many thorough studies about where Head Start, a bipartisan-supported program, is good and strong, and where it might have some weaknesses. One of its perceived weaknesses is in following up on the knowledge that we give these children in Head Start Programs through preschool programs and entering into elementary school. This program is designed to complement and provide a transition for those at-risk children and for those children that need, through a paucity or some weaknesses in the Head Start Program, some supplemental education and followup. So this will complement our Head Start Program, and hopefully keep children in school.”