mr. chairman , injecting religious discrimination into head start is a nonstarter . 
it is a rollback of established civil rights laws . 
it is wrong . 
and i believe it sets the stage for unconstitutional activity . 
i ask my colleagues to withdraw that amendment and let this bill , which we do agree on , to go forward to serve the children of our nation who are waiting for opportunities to ensure that no child in america is trapped within poverty 's grasp , to enable every child in america to live up to his or her highest potential . 
faith-based organizations , as we all know , are free to use their own money to make employment decisions using religious criteria for programs . 
there is no discrimination against faith-based organizations that run federally funded social services . 
if they want to hire people of only a certain faith , they can do that with their own money . 
but when it comes to the use of taxpayers ' dollars , no citizen in this country with the protection of the first amendment should have to pass a religious test to qualify . 
our founders understood the importance of separation of church and state . 
i also believe they did not intend to have america exclude the celebration of spiritual values . 
it is important that we remember the founders ' directives to bring spiritual values of truth , honesty , love of country , but to never break down that wall which separates church and state . 
preserve our constitution . 
