[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 42 (Thursday, April 10, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1395]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HATCH AND KENNEDY ARE RIGHT

  (Mrs. ROUKEMA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle to do what is right for the children of America.
  Senators Hatch and Kennedy have developed bold new legislation in the 
other body designed to protect the physical health of our children, and 
we in the House should also support this legislation. It has bipartisan 
support and deserves our support.
  There are three major components to it: A block grant to allow the 
States to provide the health insurance coverage, which is paid for by a 
tax or a user fee on cigarettes that not only will pay for the program 
but also discourage youth from smoking in the first place. One-third of 
the revenues, and I say specifically to my Republican colleagues like 
myself who are fiscally conservative, one-third of those revenues will 
be used to reduce the budget deficit and stop mortgaging children's 
futures.
  The health of our children is far too valuable to allow it to be 
threatened by a lack of adequate health insurance. There is no area 
where health insurance and preventive care brings more rewards. It is 
cost-effective as well as being humane, and it deserves the support, 
bipartisan support, such as Senators Hatch and Kenendy have already 
developed.

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