[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 79 (Tuesday, June 21, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               WORKING FOR A BIPARTISAN HEALTH CARE BILL

  (Mr. FILNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield briefly to the gentleman from South 
Carolina [Mr. Derrick].
  Mr. DERRICK. Mr. Speaker, in reference to the minority whip's 
remarks, we accept. We would be delighted to work for a bipartisan 
health care bill.


                investment in the children of the world

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, now that that is settled, UNICEF, the United 
Nations Children's Fund, today released its 1994 Progress of Nations 
Report--giving country-by-country comparisons of progress made in 
meeting the basic needs of children and families.
  Nearly 13 million children worldwide die each year of preventable 
malnutrition and disease, dying not of massacres but of measles and 
dehydration. And we know what to do to prevent these deaths.
  Increased global immunizations are now preventing 3 million deaths 
per year. Oral rehydration therapy, a simple Gatorade-like solution 
which prevents diarrheal dehydration, is now saving 1 million children 
each year. But much remains to be done to make these simple and 
inexpensive therapies more widely available.
  My colleagues who serve on the Foreign Operations Subcommittee will 
soon be going into conference with the Senate regarding 1995 foreign 
assistance appropriations. I urge support for the Senate's binding 
language on children's programs which will require the Agency for 
International Development to devote $185 million to primary health 
care, $135 to basic education, and $25 million to micronutrients such 
as vitamin A.
  This is a visionary investment in the world's children and families 
which does not increase overall foreign aid. This Congress could make 
no better investment.

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