John Yarmuth: “as we pass the reins of our Nation to future generations, we must acknowledge that America's continued prosperity in the…”

“as we pass the reins of our Nation to future generations, we must acknowledge that America's continued prosperity in the global economy will not be ensured unless we equip our children, the leaders of tomorrow, with the tools they need to succeed down the road. To achieve this, we must cultivate not just the most privileged students, not only our brightest students, but also the students who grew up with disadvantages. Indeed, we must nurture the potential of all our children because it is in the best interest of our country to maximize the contributions and success of every American. I recently visited a Head Start program at Indian Trail Elementary in my district in Louisville. The veritable beehive of activity there spoke louder than 40 years of studies on Head Start progress, but they said the same thing: The thoroughly engaged children were actively building a solid foundation for their futures, and they were loving the pursuit. Like their predecessors, the 1,800 Head Start students in Louisville and the 1 million nationwide are making tremendous gains in family literacy, vocabulary, early writing, letter recognition, and social behavior, skills that will pay huge dividends in their future pursuits. We have an opportunity today to extend and improve this program which is so vital to the preparation of today's youth, who in turn are critical to America's future.”