[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 30 (Tuesday, March 11, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H817]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   OUR CHILDREN MUST BE OUR PRIORITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ehlers). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. 
McGovern] is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, this Thursday, House Democrats will 
introduce one of the major planks of the families first agenda: the 
Children's Health Care Act.
  Mr. Speaker, one child in seven living in the United States is 
without health insurance. That is about 10 million uninsured kids. This 
statistic is not really startling, it is simply unacceptable. It is 
unacceptable for a nation as wealthy and as powerful as ours to be 
denying our kids the health coverage that they need and that they 
deserve.
  Mr. Speaker, I did not have to look very far to see firsthand 
evidence of this national crisis. Just 2 years ago in my home State of 
Massachusetts, 23 percent of children under the age of 18, or some 
160,000 kids, were without even basic health insurance. And it does not 
take a pediatrician to understand what this meant for Massachusetts. 
Uninsured children are at risk of contracting preventable illnesses, 
illnesses that cost far more to treat than they do to prevent. Millions 
of kids without insurance means millions of kids without a secure 
future and millions of dreams deferred.
  Families with uninsured kids do not want their children to be 
vulnerable, but they live from month to month and paycheck to paycheck 
with little money in the family budget to spare. These families are 
hard-working families, forced by their economic position to choose 
between paying for things like food and rent, hot water and 
electricity, and paying for things like prescriptions or doctor visits 
for their kids.
  So what happens when a child's health needs are deferred? Well, their 
families pay dearly. For example, one-third of uninsured children with 
reoccurring ear infections never see a doctor. Many suffer hearing loss 
that is permanent and, what is worse, was preventable.
  But the health care crisis goes beyond health and money; it affects 
our children's very capacity to learn and to grow. When I was a little 
kid, I remember having trouble learning in school. I was getting 
terrible headaches all the time and I had a lot of trouble 
concentrating. I remember vividly the day that my parents took me to 
the doctor to get my eyesight checked. As it turned out, I was getting 
headaches because I could not see the blackboard, and there was a 
simple solution: I needed eyeglasses.
  Now, I would be lying if I said I was really excited about the 
prospect of getting eyeglasses as a kid. But as I was able to read what 
the teacher wrote on the board and as my headaches began to disappear 
and as my concentration began to improve, I was so inspired that I told 
my parents I wanted to grow up to be an eye doctor. To be frank, my 
mother still thinks that I should have become an eye doctor rather than 
the career path that I chose. But I learned a valuable lesson from that 
firsthand experience, and that is keeping our kids healthy is the best 
way to secure their future.
  Now, my own State of Massachusetts has seen some very positive 
changes concerning health care in the past few years. Massachusetts 
worked hard to craft a bill called An Act to Improve Health Care 
Access. Now the law of the Commonwealth, this landmark piece of 
legislation is on the verge of giving basic coverage to some 125,000 
kids in Massachusetts. That is 80 percent of the uninsured children in 
the State of Massachusetts.
  So how was something like this financed? Well, Massachusetts has 
found the funds to undertake this bold plan in two areas. First, 
administrators found savings by streamlining and fine-tuning the way 
these programs are managed. Second, Massachusetts implemented a 25-
cent-per-pack cigarette tax, a move that made my home State eligible 
for more Federal funding. Massachusetts is watching that revenue do 
what every State in the Nation should do, and that is cover children's 
health care.
  Mr. Speaker, we must understand that it is in the best interests of 
our country to recognize and provide for children in need. As Members 
of Congress, we would not send troops into battle knowing that one-
seventh of their equipment was faulty. As Government officials, we 
would not agree to build bridges if 1 in 7 fell to the ground. And as 
parents, we would never send our children to schools in which 1 student 
in 7 did not see a teacher.
  Massachusetts should serve as an inspiration for the rest of our 
Nation. Mr. Speaker, it is a national scandal that 40 million Americans 
are without health insurance in this country, but it is absolutely 
unconscionable that nearly 10 million kids find themselves without 
proper health care. Every Member of this body earns an enormous salary 
and enjoys a first-rate health care plan. Why should our children 
deserve any less?
  Now, I have no illusions about our present political environment. I 
understand that this Republican Congress is nowhere near heeding the 
call for universal health care coverage. But while we cannot cover 
everyone yet, we must do what we can today. So let us make sure that 
our kids are covered. As Members of Congress, we have a responsibility 
to prepare our children to be leaders tomorrow by insuring that they 
receive a healthy start today. Our children deserve no less.

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