mr. chairman , since 1965 , head start has provided 22 million children , american children , with the education and health and social services to lead productive lives . 
it is the most successful school readiness program in the nation . 
it has always received bipartisan support . 
i want to commend the chairman and the committee for producing a very good bill that reauthorizes head start so america 's children get the same type of investment that we have been providing iraqi children . 
i find myself puzzled why you would take such good legislation and play politics with it when we can make progress . 
the rest of the country is looking at us and asking us to please put politics aside and put progress first . 
do not divide americans along religious lines . 
that is not the america they want ; they want an american that comes together , recognizes our differences , and makes progress rather than politics . 
mr. chairman , it is amendments like this that remind me why 29 percent of the american people think the congress is doing a good job , but well over 75 percent of the american people think this congress is failing to meet the obligations and the challenges that america has . 
you today can get a bill passed in a bipartisan vote , unanimously , with everybody understanding because we are investing in america 's children , and you chose to take that progress and play politics in the most ugly way , by pinning american against american based on their religion . 
this does not represent america 's values , it does not represent your values , and you chose to put politics over progress . 
it reminds me when i look at today 's data why the american people hold this congress in the lowest esteem it has in over 15 years . 
invest in america 's future . 
choose these children . 
give them the best start they can for productive lives where they can come and be contributors to this country . 
no , we do not take the progress . 
the chairman of the committee did a good job in the committee , producing a good bill that builds on the progress of the last 40 years and continues to invest in america 's children , and you chose to put an amendment on this floor , unprecedented , that chose to divide america , not unite it , to choose politics over progress , and to continue the same policies that has taken this congress to the lowest esteem ever in the american people 's history . 
