Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 111 Part 3.djvu/667

 CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS-JUNE 5, 1997 111 STAT. 2755 child should enter school ready to learn and that access to a high quality early childhood education program was integral to meeting this goal. (4) According to data compiled by the RAND Corporation, while 90 percent of human brain ^owth occurs by the age of 3, public spending on children m that age range equals only 8 percent of spending on all children. A vast majority of public spending on children occurs after the brain has gone through its most dramatic changes, often to correct problems that ^ould have been addressed during early childhood development. (5) According to the Department of Education, of $29,400,000,000 in current estimated education expenditures, only $1,500,000,000, or 5 percent, is spent on children from birth to age 5. The vast majority is spent on children over age 5. (6) A new commitment to quality child care and early childhood education is a necessary response to the fact that children from birth to the age of 3 are spending more time in care away from their homes. Almost 60 percent of women in the workforce have children under the age of 3 requiring care. (7) Many States and communities are currently experimenting with innovative programs directed at early cnildnood care and education in a variety of care settings, including the home. States and local communities are best able to deliver efficient, cost-effective services, but while such programs are long on demand, they are short on resources. Additional Federal resources should not create new bureaucracy, but build on successful locally driven efforts. GD) SENSE OF THE SENATE. —I t is the sense of the Senate that the budget totals and levels in this resolution assume that funds ought to be directed toward increasing the supply of quality child care, early childhood education, and teacher and parent training for children from birth through age 3. SEC. 334. SENSE OF THE SENATE CONCERNINGfflGHWAYTRUST FUND. (a) FINDINGS. — The Senate finds that— (1) there is no direct linkage between the fuel taxes deposited in the Highway Trust Fund and the transportation spending from the Highway Trust Fund; (2) the Federal budget process has severed this linkage by dividing revenues and spending into separate budget categories with— (A) fuel taxes deposited in the Highway Trust Fund as revenues; and (B) most spending from the Highway Trust Fund in the discretionary category; (3) each budget category referred to in paragraph (2) has its own rules and procedures; and (4) under budget rules in effect prior to the date of adoption of this resolution, an increase in fuel taxes permits increased spending to be included in the budget, but not for increased Highway Trust Fund spending. (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.— It is the sense of the Senate that— (1) in this session of Congress, Congress should, within a unified budget, consider changing the Federal budget process

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