mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time . 
this is a debate we have had before , particularly in the committee as we discussed this bill last year . 
and i have difficulty understanding the rationale for opposing this amendment because it has been established in law for some time that churches have the right to hire on the basis of religion and the activities they pursue . 
i understand some of the arguments offered , but i would point out the difficulties that one can discover immediately . 
as an example , the gentleman from nebraska ( mr. osborne ) xz4003030 pointed out in the debate last year that one of his local churches operates a head start program , but they do not hire full-time people for that . 
they hire part-time people who also work for the church the rest of the day . 
obviously , they should be allowed to hire on the basis of religion for the operations of the church . 
why then prohibit that person from also teaching in the head start program ? 
i come from a city that is often called the city of churches , grand rapids , michigan , a great many churches often working together . 
and when the call came in after hurricane katrina , the red cross was asked to organize a relief effort , asked to provide emergency shelter and housing for 500 people . 
their first call was to grace , the grand rapids area ecumenical group , which , through the churches , put together a shelter in a matter of 2 or 3 days . 
they could not have done that without that , but virtually every church in the city worked on it . 
again , all of these workers were affiliated with churches and were hired partly on the basis of their religious faith . 
why exclude such a potent social force from working with the government in cases of emergency or at any other time ? 
i think there is a basic misunderstanding here , something along the lines that we can not have this because these people might try to proselytize some people and try to get them to join the church . 
that is not the motivation of the churches in grand rapids or across this country . 
they understand , based on their spiritual commitment , that they have a responsibility to their fellow human beings and that , in the name of god , they are to minister to others who are in need . 
and that is why they are an effective social force in meeting the needs of the poor , meeting the needs of those who are hurting , and that is the reason that they are an effective agency of the federal government to work with in terms of crisis , emergency , or simple pain and need on the part of certain people . 
this amendment that is being offered will allow the continuation of that effort in the head start program ; and , frankly , we should allow it in every program . 
why should we rule out one of the most effective and one of the most potent social organizations in the nation , that is , religious organizations , who are dedicated to doing good , who are seeking to do good , who are trying to honor their lord by doing good , and they can be a very effective force ? 
we should not exclude them in any way from their work and from their participation with the government as partners . 
