mr. chairman , i yield myself the balance of my time . 
this is an amendment that allows federal funding to support discrimination . 
it is paid for by federal tax dollars . 
it will strip civil rights protections by allowing religious organizations to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion for head start positions , and i repeat , using federal taxpayers ' money . 
under the amendment , a religious organization could tell a potential head start teacher , of all of the applicants we have seen , you would be the best one to teach our kids , but we are not going to hire you , because you are not the right religion . 
as i said earlier , head start kids are at risk as it is , without their teachers being chosen because of their religion instead of whether they are the best qualified . 
mr. chairman , i ask the members of this body , think before you vote yes on this . 
think before you set a precedent that has federal funding paying for discrimination based on religion . 
