mr. chairman , i rise today in opposition of h.r. 2123 , the school readiness act of 2005 . 
disappointingly , i would have voted for this legislation to reauthorize the head start program if it were the same bill that the education and workforce committee passed unanimously with bipartisan support . 
that bill 's new teacher qualifications and increased accountability would have greatly improved the educational outcomes for children in the head start program . 
i would have preferred that bill provide more funding to ensure all eligible children can receive head start services , but on balance , the bipartisan bill was worth voting for . 
instead , the republican majority has added an amendment which would , for the first time in head start 's 30-year history , allow a faith-based sponsored head start program to use federal taxpayer dollars to discriminate against highly qualified teachers and other employees solely because of their religious views . 
ironically , even the faith-based community republicans spend so much time pandering to is opposed to this discriminatory amendment . 
groups including the baptist joint committee , american jewish congress and african american ministers in action oppose the notion that head start should allow religious discrimination . 
this head start bill , however , is only the latest example of such prejudice ; president bush and his congressional republican counterparts have steadily pushed an agenda latent with religious discrimination . 
most recently , the majority has sought to impart their religious views on historically secular programs such as the workforce investment act and the community services block grant . 
perhaps what is most abhorrent is that the republican party wants to institutionalize discrimination in a program that provides early childhood development and educational services that are intended to prepare low-income children to enter kindergarten and improve their success later in life . 
these are not the `` family values '' we should teach our children , whether it 's paid for with tax-payer funds or not . 
i urge my colleagues to vote against this legislation . 
it is time to show the american people that this congress supports tolerance over discrimination . 
it is time we had a head start reauthorization bill that focuses on improving the educational development of our children , and is not being used as a vehicle to teach our children one of the world 's ugliest lessons : discrimination . 
