[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 32 (Thursday, March 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H953]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   REPUBLICAN AGENDA DOES NOT ADDRESS THE NATION'S UNINSURED CHILDREN

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute. )
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, following up on my colleague from 
Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro], I want to reiterate again this report that 
came out from the Children's Defense Fund that was in today's 
Washington Post. Once again there is another article in another major 
newspaper on the number of children in this country who do not have 
health insurance.
  According to the General Accounting Office, this is an all time high. 
Not only one out of seven children, as was mentioned, do not have 
health insurance, but if we do not make this a top priority, we are 
going to have even more serious problems. The Children's Defense Fund 
report says that unless action is taken now 12.6 million children will 
be uninsured by the year 2000.
  This news is only for the Republicans. Since last spring Democrats 
have been developing legislative plans to provide health insurance to 
the Nation's 10 million uninsured children, but to date there is not a 
single Republican plan to address this situation. Nor does it look like 
the GOP has any intention of giving this issue the attention it 
deserves. The House Republican agenda announced last week made no 
mention of a plan to insure the Nation's uninsured children.

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