mr. chairman , i thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time . 
i am pleased that we have a bipartisan bill here . 
i want to congratulate the chairman , congratulate the ranking member , and congratulate the gentlewoman from california ( ms. woolsey ) xz4004360 for coming out with a bipartisan bill . 
unlike the bill considered by the house in 2003 , this legislation does not attempt to block grant head start programs , which was controversial . 
i think that is good for the passage of this bill . 
furthermore , it strengthens academic content , improves teacher quality , promotes better coordination between head start and other early childhood programs , and it strengthens accountability . 
my wife supervised head start in our jurisdiction for many years . 
there are 24 judy centers around the state of maryland right now , many of which include head start . 
this bill was reported out of committee almost unanimously , if not unanimously . 
unanimously . 
while the underlying bill contains long-standing nondiscriminatory provisions , and i congratulate the committee for that , there is an amendment lurking that will undermine that bipartisanship and , not only that , undermine an extraordinarily fundamental principle in our country : we do not discriminate . 
we do not countenance discrimination . 
the previous gentleman indicated he does not know of any instance where there has been discrimination . 
i agree with that . 
i have never had anybody contact me ever , and this is my 37th year in public office . 
never , from 1967 to today , have i had somebody come to me and say this is a problem . 
the committee has seen fit to report out a bill which does not allow discrimination . 
why ? 
because there is no problem here . 
frankly , the gentleman from louisiana is trying to create a problem where there is none . 
we ought to reject that amendment . 
if we do not reject that amendment , the overwhelming majority of us on this side of the aisle are going to vote against this bill . 
that is unfortunate because we are all for head start . 
it is a program that works . 
it is a program that is important . 
it is a program that we ought to reauthorize . 
and i urge us to support this bill , but reject a crippling amendment to be offered by the gentleman from louisiana . 
