mr. speaker , i thank you for the opportunity to say a few words about why i think this bill is a bill that says that the best days of this country are behind us , not before us .  i call attention to some statistics , statistics that say the high school dropout over the course of their life will earn $ 260 , 000 less than a graduate .  this legislation , i think , does very little to support more students graduating from high school when it cuts after-school programs by 25 percent .  if you spread that across 23 million high school dropouts in this country , that adds up to $ 50 billion a year less in taxes .  so if we are really concerned about generating more taxes , we ought to be investing in our people , not taking away the kinds of resources that contribute to their ability to become greater taxpayers in this country .  mr. speaker , $ 1 invested in preschool leaves $ 7 saved in welfare , health care and criminal justice .  let 's invest in our people .  