mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman for yielding me time . 
mr. speaker , i rise today in support of the rule and of the underlying head start bill . 
since i was elected to congress in 2000 , we have increased head start funding by 28 percent , from $ 5.8 billion in 2000 to $ 6.8 billion today . 
head start is a crucial program for over 900 , 000 of our nation 's most needy students . 
it provides child development , educational , health , nutritional , social and other activities to help prepare young children for kindergarten . 
a good head start program will make sure that low-income 4-year-old children will know their abcs , be able to count to 20 , have the building blocks they need to hit the ground running on their first day of kindergarten . 
we know today how important early childhood education is to a child 's long-term success . 
head start makes sure that children from low-income families have the educational foundation they need to succeed . 
as a father of two , i know firsthand how precious our children 's first years are and how important they are to our children 's future . 
i am proud of congress ' increased support for low-income children through the head start program , and i urge my colleagues to vote `` yes '' on the rule and `` yes '' on the head start reauthorization bill . 
