[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 21 (Monday, February 5, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H1175]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SUPPORT FOR INCREASED SCHIP FUNDING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Madam Speaker, today I rise to call upon this 
Congress to assist States facing overwhelming shortfalls in funding 
their State health insurance programs.
  In 1997, Congress created the SCHIP programs to help States provide 
health care coverage to the growing number of uninsured children 
throughout the United States. Ten years later, more than 6 million 
children have been enrolled in this program. They are going for annual 
check-ups to the doctor, and they are getting their prescription 
medications that they need. And they are also receiving care when they 
are extremely sick.
  Unfortunately, Madam Speaker, this program's success is threatened by 
inadequate funding, and hundreds of thousands of these children stand 
to lose this health care coverage they have grown to rely upon.
  Federal funding has failed to keep up with the program's expanding 
enrollment. An inefficient allocation of these funds means some States 
are sitting on more than $1 billion of SCHIP funding, while 14 States, 
including my own State of Georgia, face severe shortfalls on the order 
of hundreds of millions of dollars.
  This inadequate funding has forced some States to consider stopping 
all SCHIP medical services. Without help from the Congress, Congress 
will be unable to continue to provide health care for the 300,000 
children enrolled in its Peachcare SCHIP program. Without increased 
Federal funding, these children will no longer receive their 
immunizations. They will no longer get their teeth cleaned, or their 
eyesight checked. And worse still, they will not be able to afford 
emergency room care in the event of a tragedy.
  Madam Speaker, terminating coverage for these children would lead 
this country further away from decreasing the number of uninsured 
children in the United States. Congress must act expediently to 
allocate Federal funding to those States facing SCHIP shortfalls. It 
must reauthorize the program to ensure that all six million enrolled 
children continue to receive health care.
  It must increase Federal funding so that more uninsured children can 
be enrolled in this program and get the health care that they deserve. 
I look forward to working with my colleagues from Georgia and other 
affected States to rectify this increasingly dire situation.

                          ____________________