Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for yielding me this time.
As a member of the committee, I rise in full support of H.R. 1. I would like to commend the chairman of the committee, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. BOEHNER), and the ranking member, the gentleman from California (Mr. GEORGE MILLER) for working so diligently with each other, as well as with other members from both sides of the [Page: H2405] aisle, to help craft a bipartisan bill that I believe all of us can enthusiastically support. I certainly want to also commend President Bush for his efforts in this area.
He has brought the issue of education reform to the forefront through the depth of his commitment to improving America's schools. I have had the honor to speak with the President regarding this issue on a number of occasions now. Each time, he has demonstrated to me his genuine, heart-felt belief in the importance of closing the achievement gap in America's education system.
The bill we are about to consider is numbered H.R. 1 for a reason. It is considered by the administration and appropriately by Members of this House as the top priority for our Nation. There is no more important challenge before our Nation than ensuring that the next generation of schoolchildren is fully equipped with the skills and knowledge that they will need to succeed in work and life. Books and chalk boards, good teachers, and a safe learning environment, these are the ingredients to a better future.
Mr. Chairman, H.R. 1 consolidates education programs. It increases flexibility for local schools and, most importantly, and a corner stone of the President's plan, it requires accountability through annual testing. It treats literacy as a new civil right by proposing an investment of $5 billion in literacy programs to guarantee every student can read by grade 3.
An area I have particular interest in is preschool education, and the Early Reading First program proposed by H.R. 1 will help to advance the debate in this area. Too many children, because they come from broken families and shattered communities, first arrive at the schoolhouse already at a tremendous disadvantage. Quality pre-K programs, such as those envisioned in Early Reading First, can do much to ensure that these kids will not have to spend their entire elementary years merely trying to catch up.
I look forward to these and other considerations of the provisions in the bill, and I certainly join with the chairman of the committee and with other Members of the House in fully supporting the President's education plan so that we leave no child behind.
