mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman from utah ( mr. bishop ) xz4000291 for the time , and i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. speaker , yesterday the committee on rules reported out a restrictive rule providing for the consideration of the school readiness and head start reauthorization act . 
a total of 24 amendments were submitted to the committee on rules on this bill , 16 by democratic members and eight by republicans . 
in typical fashion , however , only 12 of those amendments were made in order . 
half of our colleagues ' proposals , half of their legislative ideas , half of their amendments are blocked from consideration under this rule . 
this includes , among many others , the mccollum-van hollen amendment , which calls for providing assistance to head start providers complying with congressional transportation mandates and the rising costs of gasoline . 
this commonsense amendment provided much needed assistance to head start programs that are having to cope with escalating gasoline costs . 
they are now choosing between buying new books for their students and putting gas into their buses . 
unfortunately , the house will not have the opportunity to debate this amendment because it was not made in order under the rule . 
as all members should know , head start was created to address the preparatory educational deficiencies among economically disadvantaged children as a part of the war on poverty . 
since that time , millions of children and families have been the beneficiaries of a proven winning educational model for early childhood development . 
this body likes to talk about readiness in many contexts : disaster readiness , military readiness , emergency readiness . 
we devise and implement all kinds of plans in order to be ready or prepared for any eventuality . 
school readiness is more than just being prepared for entry into the educational system . 
it is preparation for entry into life 's systems . 
head start is just what it says : a head start . 
it gives systematically , economically and socially disadvantaged children the head start that potentially allows for the navigation and negotiation of hurdles in life 's race that they may not otherwise have been able to maneuver without . 
it is at this very point in the lives of our children that they are introduced to varying themes and concepts that will shape them into the individuals they will become . 
several of my democratic colleagues from the congressional black caucus have designed excellent amendments designed to broaden the scope of readiness for america 's disadvantaged children . 
the gentleman from illinois ( mr. davis ) xz4000922 had an amendment and it asked for the recruitment of african american and latino men to become head start teachers . 
this was made in order . 
the gentleman from mississippi 's ( mr. thompson ) xz4004032 amendment calls for the department of health and human services to provide additional assistance in areas affected by hurricane katrina , and i suggested to the chair that we broaden that to include any disaster so that children are covered who are in the head start category . 
the gentlewoman from california 's ( ms. millender-mcdonald ) xz4002750 amendment allows homeless and foster children to be automatically eligible for head start . 
these amendments were designed to help , not hinder ; to move forward , not backward ; to grow , not stifle . 
i am pleased that they were made in order and enthusiastically support each of these amendments . 
unfortunately , although the underlying legislation has the support of both parties , the rule also makes in order a controversial and discriminatory amendment offered by the gentleman from louisiana ( mr. boustany ) xz4006360 , our colleague . 
his amendment contains language that should give all of us pause and may cause this bill not to pass should it be approved by this body . 
the boustany amendment allows faith-based head start providers to discriminate with regard to religion when hiring personnel to run their programs . 
does this not blatantly and egregiously undermine what we are trying to do here ? 
we are supposed to be about the business of creating opportunities and closing gaps . 
the boustany amendment only creates opportunities of systemic disadvantage and discrimination and closes doors to the very ones trying to open them for america 's children . 
even more , title vii of the 1964 civil rights act clearly stands in opposition to the gentleman from louisiana 's ( mr. boustany ) xz4006360 amendment , the same title vii that was voted on and agreed to by the members of this great body 41 years ago . 
title vii provides every citizen broad-based protection against employment discrimination based on race , color , religion , sex , and national origin . 
supporters of the amendment will argue that the supreme court decision in the amos case allows for the amendment to be in order and is , therefore , constitutional . 
that decision does , in fact , allow for the consideration of religion in hiring practices . 
however , it does not allow for the consideration of religion to discriminate in hiring practices . 
how soon we forget that it is the very same language that made this bill highly controversial in the 108th congress , and it will allow for it to be controversial if it passes again . 
i urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment . 
mr. speaker , if we are serious about the lives of our children , if we are serious about readiness , if we are serious about reauthorizing head start , then it is critical that we continue to work in a bipartisan fashion and reject proposals which seek to divide this body and its members . 
the chairman of this committee and the ranking member and the members of this committee have worked very actively to fashion a reasonable and bipartisan effort . 
congress should not be in the business of supporting state-sponsored discrimination . 
forty-one years ago we said no . 
today , 41 years later , no still is no . 
the house should , without question or hesitation , reject the boustany amendment and approve the bipartisan underlying legislation with some of the proposed amendments . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
