But, it's important to understand that arriving immigrants find themselves on the lower rungs of the economic ladder.

So, it becomes a class issue, and not just an abstract health issue.

I think, frankly, it is a national disgrace.

If we ignore kids... many of these kids are going to end up in jail, and many of these kids are going to end up in government assistance.

I think it costs more money to keep somebody in jail than send them to Harvard University.

I think it's an international disgrace, that we have the highest rate of childhood poverty in the industrialized world.

The rate of children living in poverty this year will climb to nearly 22 percent, the highest rate in two decades.

The economy will turn. Those children who fall into the rabbit hole of poverty right now will not recover.

As a nation--I agree with Mrs. Powell, who described the situation regarding our kids as abysmal.

In a democracy, it's not so easy to do that.

the American tradition is that immigrants move up the ladder, as they have for many hundreds of years, and it's our job to make sure that that happens.

Should every child in this country, because of Federal law, have the right to quality childcare from birth to kindergarten?

Should every child, by right, have access to high quality child care?

And it is the Government's responsibility to make sure it happens?

Let us be very clear, and let me not mince words. The way we treat children in this country is an international embarrassment, and the way we do childcare is a national disgrace.

We are wasting 25 to 30 percent of our human capital. There is no way we are going to compete if we don't solve this problem.

Should the Government make sure that that happens?

We have, at 18 percent, the highest rate of childhood poverty in the industrialized world, and we are all very shocked that we end up having more people in jail than China.

We keep talking about it and haven't done it.

If you ignore the needs of little children, you know what? They are going to fail in school. And if they fail in school, you know what? They are going to do crime, and they are going to end up in jail, and they are not going to be good…

I believe it is a crime that they are not.

I think we all understand that we are looking at one of the most significant ecological disasters in the modern history of our country.

I think you are ignoring, and making it more--you're ignoring the best way to go forward, by simply lifting the cap.

It is beyond comprehension that you have a oil company making over 5 billion in profits in the first quarter of this year at the same time as you have a Nation running a recordbreaking deficit.

I would hope that this committee and the Senate will move aggressively to move in a very different direction that the administration is indicating.