mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , this debate reminds me of the old saying , i have got good news and i have got bad news . 
the good news is that our committee worked in a bipartisan way to report out a bill by a vote of 48 to zero . 
and i want to thank our ranking member , the gentleman from california ( mr. george miller ) xz4002780 ; our chairman , the gentleman from ohio ( mr. boehner ) xz4000360 ; and the subcommittee chair , the gentleman from delaware ( mr. castle ) xz4000700 , for making that possible , as well as all the members of the committee . 
this bill is a great step forward from where we were last congress . 
first and foremost , the bill protects the high quality of head start programs by protecting local control of those programs . 
in other words , there is no state block granting . 
the bill also increases funding to migrant and seasonal and indian head start programs , strengthens teacher qualification requirements , and limits uses of the administration 's ill-conceived national testing system . 
but there is also bad news . 
first , even though fewer than half of eligible children receive head start services , and even though the number of children served has been going down under the bush administration , this bill does nothing to increase the number of children who will receive these critical services . 
second , this bill does not increase resources to help head start programs hire the better qualified teachers that the bill requires . 
it is unusual for me to be the one explaining to my republican colleagues how market forces work , but in this case it is pretty clear they do not get it . 
more highly qualified teachers will cost more money , and we are demanding more qualified teachers without providing the necessary financial support . 
that is the good news and the bad news . 
now , here is the worst news , which is actually a poison pill for this bill . 
the majority has decided to choose religious discrimination over what could have been a rare bipartisan achievement . 
that probably sounds hard to believe , but it is true . 
under current law , religious organizations can and do receive head start funding . 
they also can only hire members of their faith when they use their own funds . 
so i ask you , what is the problem ? 
apparently , the problem is that religious organizations want to discriminate in hiring when they are using public funds , your tax dollars . 
well , actually , religious organizations have never asked any of us to waive their discriminatory rights and privileges that they are asking for over on the other side of the aisle . 
under the boustany amendment , a prospective head start teacher could face a religious test before being hired . 
this amendment is unnecessary . 
it is wrong . 
i will not support a final bill that includes it . 
head start kids are enough at risk as it is , without their teachers being chosen because of their religion , rather than because they are actually the best qualified . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
