[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 27 (Wednesday, March 5, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H729-H730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




WE MUST MAKE CHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE OUR TOP PRIORITY IN THIS SESSION OF 
                                CONGRESS

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, we are voting today on a resolution 
regarding the display of the Ten Commandments. Whatever Members vote on 
this resolution, I think we can all agree: This is not the most 
pressing issue that is facing our Nation today.
  Today the American people are much more concerned about the 10 
million

[[Page H730]]

children living without health insurance in this country than they are 
with the issue of whether or not we hang the Ten Commandments on the 
wall.
  We all know actions speak louder than words, and the Ten Commandments 
are important words; important words to me. But what about our actions? 
What is this body doing to help the children in this Nation, over 
70,000 in my home State of Connecticut alone, that will go to sleep 
tonight without health insurance?
  We are only spending time on this issue of the Ten Commandments 
because the GOP operative, William Kristol, suggested that this be done 
in the March 10 edition of the conservative publication, the Weekly 
Standard. The American people should be driving the agenda of this 
House and not Republican conservative operatives. We must make 
children's health care our top priority in this session of the 
Congress.

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