Benjamin Gilman: “I rise today in support of H.R. 4250, Head Start, community services block grants, and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance…”

“I rise today in support of H.R. 4250, Head Start, community services block grants, and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program reauthorizations. I would like to commend the gentleman from California [Mr. Martinez] for introducing this important measure and the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling], the committee's distinguished ranking member and the gentleman from Rhode Island [Mr. Machtley] for their support. H.R. 4250 expands parental involvement, extends Head Start services to families with infants and toddlers, reserves funds for teachers' salaries and facility upgrades, and requires Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] to consider a grant recipient's past performance when allocating funds. This important measure reauthorizes Head Start, the Community Service Block Grants Program, and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program for 4 years. More specifically, the bill authorizes $525 million for Head Start, $525 million for the Community Services Block Grants Program, and $2 million for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program for fiscal year 1995.”