[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 64 (Friday, May 17, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E847]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CHILDREN'S HEALTH COVERAGE IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2002

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                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 16, 2002

  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the plight of low-
income uninsured children with the introduction of the Children's 
Health Coverage, Improvement Act of 2002.
  Throughout the United States there are over 11 million uninsured 
children under the age of nineteen. Over two-thirds of these children 
live in families with household incomes below 200% of poverty. In my 
home state of Illinois alone 435,000 children have no insurance, 
ranking Illinois 24th in the nation in the percentage of uninsured. 
Over 102,000 of these uninsured children reside in Cook County.
  In hope of enrolling those low-income children who are eligible for 
SCHIP, I am introducing the Children's Health Coverage Improvement Act 
of 2002 which: Provides $100 million in grants annually from unspent 
SCHIP allocations to community-based public or nonprofit organizations 
for the purposes of conducting innovative outreach and enrollment 
efforts; and It is my hope that through this legislation we can ensure 
that every low-income child has the health insurance they qualify for 
and deserve.




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