[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 14, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E543-E544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SUPPORT FOR 2007 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS BILL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. NANCY E. BOYDA

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 14, 2007

  Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the 
upcoming 2007 fiscal year supplemental appropriations bill.
  Much of the debate on this bill has focused, quite rightly, on the 
provisions that codify President Bush's benchmarks for Iraq into law. 
This is an important subject that I plan to discuss in depth later this 
week.
  But today I wish to spotlight another element of this legislation, 
one that offers renewed hope and opportunity to millions of children in 
Kansas and throughout the United States: the extension of the State 
Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP.
  If you are fortunate enough to have health coverage, you might not 
realize what peace of mind insurance brings. You don't worry that your 
child will wake up with an ear infection that will cost a month's rent. 
You need not fear that the price of a broken leg will force you to 
default on your auto loan, or that the injuries from a car crash will 
obliterate a year's salary.
  But for many Americans, these fears are a fact of daily life. Forty-
seven million of our fellow citizens--47 million of our brothers and 
sisters and our sons and daughters, 47 million of our coworkers and 
colleagues and our friends and neighbors--47 million of us lack health 
insurance.
  Worst of all, among those 47 million uninsured Americans are nine 
million children.
  This is not just an economic or an institutional challenge. It is the 
moral crisis of our age.
  The Federal Government has addressed this simmering emergency through 
two primary means. The first is decades-old and well-known: Medicaid. 
Medicaid is a good and vital program, but its scope is very limited. In 
some states, if your family earns one dollar less than the poverty 
line, you will receive full Medicaid coverage--but if you earn just a 
few dollars more, you're ineligible for any assistance whatsoever.
  A sane health care policy must recognize that families. earning 125% 
or 150% or even 200% of the poverty line need a helping hand. And 
that's where the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, 
enters the scene. SCHIP introduces badly needed flexibility into the 
Federal health care system. In short, it tells the states, ``If you 
want to expand the eligibility of low-income children and families for 
government-sponsored health insurance, we'll offer matching funds to 
help you do it.''
  In the decade since its inception, SCHIP has proven itself an 
outstanding success. It has enrolled six million beneficiaries, 
dramatically reducing the number of uninsured children in our nation.
  Later in this legislative session, Congress will consider extending 
SCHIP beyond 2007, and you'd better believe I'll fight every step of 
the way for its renewal. But for now our task is simpler. Due to poor 
planning and inadequate funding from the do-nothing 109th Congress, 14 
states are running out of money to finance SCHIP through the current 
fiscal

[[Page E544]]

year. They need Congress to act immediately to ensure funding.
  I urge my colleagues to show our compassion for America's children, 
to demonstrate that we will not tolerate the scourge of uninsurance. I 
urge you to vote to extend funding for SCHIP.

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