mr. chairman , today on the floor we have what is increasingly rare these days , a bipartisan bill , a bill that would help thousands of head start children and their families . 
head start has worked well for 40 years . 
it has changed lives for the better . 
it is one of the great successes of our government . 
that is documented . 
now , this bill is not perfect , but it makes some positive changes . 
i am pleased that the bill avoids the proposed use of state block grants . 
it improves the academic content and requirements . 
it requires coordination between head start and state-run kindergarten programs . 
it improves the prospect for children of migrant and seasonal workers , of service men and women , of native americans . 
the legislation strengthens accountability . 
we still have a long way to go to give all eligible children the benefits of head start , but basically this is a good bill . 
it is a good bipartisan bill that is about to be destroyed by an insidious amendment . 
it is an amendment that would allow american tax dollars , tax dollars of ordinary americans , all americans , to be used for religious discrimination . 
we can not allow that . 
the nondiscrimination provision of head start has been reauthorized in 1984 , 1986 , 1990 , 1994 , and 1998 . 
no changes were proposed or made in the civil rights provision during those reauthorizations , but now the nondiscrimination provision would be thrown out . 
let us remember why we have this nondiscrimination provision . 
it is to protect freedom of religion , of religious belief and practice . 
it is to protect religious belief and practice . 
that is why it is so important not to mix that up in here . 
it is a good bill . 
we would like to keep this as a bipartisan bill . 
we do not want to go back to the days where one would say catholics need not apply , jews need not apply . 
if members do not want to go back to those days , vote `` no '' on the amendment . 
