Children's Defense Fund Legislative Update
December 6, 2000 Special Alert!

CRITICAL DECISIONS CUTTING CHILDREN'S FUNDING POSSIBLE THIS WEEK!

Having adjourned just before the November 7th elections, Congress is now back for a brief time to complete unfinished business. Funding for many of the children's programs we care about is at stake with final decisions possible this week.

Before Congress left the Capitol for election day, an agreement was reached on funding for many areas within the FY2001 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill. Child care was slated to be increased to $2 billion. Head Start was slated to be increased to nearly $6.3 billion. And, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers after-school program was slated to be increased to $1 billion.

Now we hear that Members of Congress want to re-open these funding agreements. It is unclear where the Administration stands at this moment.  We need your help now! Today! Many critical decisions could be made on Wednesday and Thursday.

Even if you have never contacted an elected official before or have already called your elected officials about this issue,  we need your help ASAP. It's easy. The key individuals who need to be contacted are:

· Representative Denny Hastert (R-IL), Speaker of the House of Representatives
· Senator Trent Lott (R-MS), Senate Majority Leader
· President Bill Clinton

To leave a message for Speaker Hastert, please call 202-225-2976.
To leave a message for Majority Leader Lott, please call 202-224-6253.
To leave a message for President Clinton, please call 202-456-2930 and press 1 to speak with Mary Beth Cahill, the public liaison to the President.

The message is simple. "Please retain the funding increases agreed to before the election for child care, Head Start, and after-school programs in any budget deal before Congress adjourns."

While we appreciate your calls, please follow-up your calls by sending an email. You can send an email with the same message from our site, http://congress.nw.dc.us/cdf/  - click on the Legislative Alert marked "Possible Children's Budget Cuts".  Send your message to President Clinton, Representative Lott, and Speaker Hastert by email!  It may seem duplicative to both call and send email, but it's not. Every contact counts.

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Amy Judge
Children's Defense Fund
25 E Street, NW
Washington, DC  20001
Fax: (202) 662-3550
http://www.childrensdefense.org

CDFfieldteam@childrensdefense.org