[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 135 (Friday, December 8, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S11697]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH REFORM ACT

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to acknowledge a 
very important deed this body has accomplished prior to the conclusion 
of the 109th Congress. Despite some incredible obstacles and limited 
time we have succeeded in protecting real health insurance coverage for 
low-income, working Americans.
  The State Children's Health Insurance Program, SCHIP, which I am 
proud to have helped establish in 1997, has made a difference in 
expanding health insurance coverage to low-income children around this 
country. In previous years, Congress has stood up for low-income 
children and produced the additional funding necessary to keep the 
SCHIP program running. A number of states are again facing urgent 
shortfalls in their SCHIP allotments in fiscal year 2007. I was deeply 
disappointed when the tax extenders package did not include, as 
expected, a modest proposal to help those states facing immediate 
shortfalls in their SCHIP budgets.
  Not so long ago, Rhode Island could proudly claim it had the lowest 
rate of uninsured children in the country. The latest Census Bureau 
report is now showing a different picture--the number of uninsured 
children rose a full percentage point, from 5.8 percent to 6.8 percent 
from 2004 to 2005. My state has worked hard over the past decade to 
build a children's health insurance program that has become a model for 
the nation. Yet, Rhode Island is anticipated to be the first of several 
states in a funding shortfall next year. Specifically, my state is 
facing a $43 million shortfall and will have only 32 percent of the 
funding necessary to sustain SCHIP in 2007. These dollars mean the 
difference between thousands of children, pregnant women, and families 
getting access to health care or not getting the care they need at all.
  Included with the reauthorization of the National Institutes of 
Health, NIH, is a modest bipartisan proposal to defer the shortfalls 
that would negatively impact the SCHIP program in my state as well as 
several others. This additional time is needed to work on a more 
permanent solution to the chronic shortfalls and other structural 
issues that should be addressed in the context of SCHIP reauthorization 
next year.
  I would be remiss if I did not extend my sincere gratitude to the 
Democratic leader, Senator Harry Reid, and his staff, particularly Kate 
Leone, for their understanding, tenacity, and tireless effort in making 
this possible. I would also like to thank my colleague from Montana, 
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Max Baucus, and his staff for 
all of their hard work in putting together a carefully crafted stopgap 
measure, and I look forward to working with him on the equally 
challenging task of SCHIP reauthorization next year.
  In the waning hours of the 109th Congress, we have taken a small but 
important step to maintain our commitment to America's children.

                          ____________________