mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman from pennsylvania ( mr. murphy )  for leading this hour during this week of children 's health care initiative and calling attention to the health of our children .  the gentleman from pennsylvania ( mr. murphy )  has worked extensively in the field of psychology , particularly child psychology .  he has actually written a book and has another coming out soon on the subject .  i think as we get further into the hour , we probably will discuss a little about bit about how important a child 's not only physical health but their mental health is .  but i do appreciate the opportunity that the gentleman has given me , mr. speaker , to share some of this time with him .  my background in a prior life , my professional experience was for 30 years in the practice of medicine , and the specialty that i enjoyed practicing was obstetrics and gynecology ; and we have that opportunity in that field of medicine to see a child at the very beginnings of life and know how critically important a good start is .  we talk about some of the things that this republican majority has done , some of the very good programs since president bush has been in office , certainly not the least of which is no child left behind regarding our k-12 education program .  but it is so important from the health care perspective that no child is left behind from the moment of conception .  so i do want to talk a little bit about the importance of prenatal care and actually call my colleagues ' attention to this one poster that i have here regarding prenatal care , entitled `` proper prenatal care leads to healthy children. '' no question about it .  some of the bullet points , these may be a little bit difficult to see , mr. speaker , but hopefully we can focus the camera in on the bullet points .  first of all , 1 million , 1 million , american women deliver babies annually without receiving prenatal care .  secondly , in the united states , more than 250 , 000 low birth weight infants are born each year .  more than 250 , 000 .  now , for my colleagues ' understanding , a low birth weight infant is one that weighs less than 2 , 500 grams .  that is about 5 1/2 pounds .  those children are not all premature .  in some instances they are unhealthy children who are near term , but low birth weight .  but most of them , most of these 250 , 000 low birth weight infants are actually born premature as well .  and the third bullet point , low birth weight infants are more likely to suffer from disabilities , things like heart defects and respiratory illnesses .  they are four times more likely to prematurely die than infants with a normal birth weight .  i have had many situations , mr. speaker , as an obstetrician having delivered over 5 , 000 children , where women come into the emergency room having had no prenatal care .  and they are clearly the ones who are more likely to deliver these low birth weight babies and deliver them prematurely .  that is why i think it is so important , and i know the gentleman from pennsylvania ( mr. murphy )  would agree with me , that when we emphasize the issue , the immigration issue , of securing our borders and want to make sure that every immigrant that comes into this country comes here legally and has an opportunity to get prenatal care , as , of course , many of those who come in an illegal manner are afraid or do not now how or where to get prenatal care and will just show up in the emergency room having delivered an unhealthy premature that is just the beginning of the cost , because if there is a disability that is long lasting or maybe even lasting a lifetime , and that is often the case , whether it is a heart defect or a musculoskeletal deformity or a mental defect as a result of lack of oxygen , sometimes even blindness , the cost is just astronomical .  so it is so important , it is so important , that we do things in this congress at the federal level to encourage that women get prenatal care and that children are born healthy and that , indeed , no infant , not just no child left behind , but no infant is left behind .  so i just wanted to go over with my colleagues some of the things in regard to prenatal care that are so important that i always stress to my patients : of course , encouraging immunizations and vitamin supplements , monitoring of diet , increased physical activity , clearly to avoid smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy and drug use .  certainly any drug use that is nonprescription or not under the jurisdiction and guidance of a physician is to be discouraged .  environmental factors are hugely important .  as i say , a healthy diet , a regular weight check , physical activity , all of these things are so important .  and then to come see the physician on a regular basis during the pregnancy .  this is how we avoid , mr. speaker , these 1 million american women delivering babies annually either without receiving prenatal care or ending up with premature deliveries .  i want to , if the gentleman would allow me , to expand on this a bit .  it is not just being born healthy and well ; but the first 5 years of life , what happens to the child after that is tremendously important as well .  i have a grandson , little grey collins .  he will be a year old soon .  and it is so much fun to see him , and i often have that opportunity to see him , watching the little baby einstein tapes , that he is hugged many times a day and loved by his parents and grandparents and his aunts and uncles and how important it is to provide that love and affection to a child and let them know that they are loved , and we will get into that .  i am sure the gentleman from pennsylvania ( mr. murphy )  will talk about that later in the hour as he discusses things like childhood obesity and childhood mental health .  but i wanted to speak a little bit about a program that we just reauthorized in the last couple of weeks here in this 109th congress , and what i am talking about is the head start program .  sometimes we get criticized , we , the republican majority , that we do not care enough about social programs and we do not care enough about the poor and underprivileged and people that do not maybe have the same opportunity that the upper middle class society has .  but let me tell the members we do care .  we do care .  and this reauthorization is proof of the pudding .  just a little historical perspective on that .  head start and its cousin , early head start or comprehensive child development programs , serving children from birth to age 5 , as i stated , as well as pregnant women and their families , the critical component of the head start program is that it is child focused with the overall goal to increase school readiness of young children in low-income families , mr. speaker .  the head start program has a long tradition of delivering comprehensive and high-quality services designed to foster healthy development in children that need our help the most .  the program provides a range of individualized services in areas of education , early childhood development , but not stopping there .  it also offers medical , dental , and mental health services to these children and to their families .  it even goes a step further by providing nutritional counseling and encouraging parental involvement in their child 's development .  it is a rich program .  i have got a lot of statistics , and as we continue the hour , i will relate some of those specifics , particularly in regard to the reauthorization and how much we are doing in that program .  but i just wanted to point out , as i know the gentleman from pennsylvania ( mr. murphy )  agrees , how important it is that we do everything we can to make sure that our children get a good start in life .  and as i have stated at the outset , the prenatal care aspect is hugely important .  programs like the early head start and head start program so that the children , all children , when they get to that 5-year-old kindergarten class or get to the first grade , that they have an equal opportunity with their peers and they are not starting school with one hand tied behind their back .  so it is hugely important that they are healthy , that they are happy , that they are loved and they have an opportunity , as we all want , in life .  at this point i will continue to be here with the gentleman from pennsylvania ( mr. murphy )  during this hour .  