Congressman a Guest Reader at Two 8th District Elementary Schools

Doylestown, PA – Today, Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8th district) took part in “Read Across America Day” as a guest reader at two elementary schools in the 8th district. Rep. Murphy read to first graders at Titus Elementary School in Warrington and to fourth graders at Jamison Elementary School in Jamison. Read Across America is an annual program designed to foster motivation and awareness for reading. Specifically, it calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on or around Dr. Seuss's birthday. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of Seuss’s Cat in the Hat, which Rep. Murphy read along with Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham and The Lorax to the students today.

“Dr. Seuss gave me great joy as a young child – joy I am able to share with my daughter Maggie. The value of reading is limitless and I hope that I was able to impart that lesson on the school children I met today,” said Congressman Patrick Murphy. “We need to invest in education – that is why I support fulfilling the promises of No Child Left Behind and fixing the flawed budget priorities of past Congresses and this administration.”

Read Across America is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. It is a program organized by the National Education Association and it also provides parents and children the resources and activities they need to keep reading year-round. Right now, Democrats in Congress are working to reverse the wrong-headed priorities of President Bush’s budget. The Bush budget cuts education funding by $1.5 billion below last year’s levels, denies help for 3.2 million school children, shuts 2 million kids out of after school programs and makes higher education easier to access and afford.

“The president’s budget cuts education funding, denies 3.2 million children help with reading and math and actually makes it harder to afford higher education. We need to put our children first, and that is what Read Across America does and why I was glad to take part in it today,” added Murphy.