[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 140 (Thursday, September 20, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S11848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, earlier today, the President announced 
his intention to veto the extension of the Children's Health Insurance 
Program bill. I believe such a veto would be a terrible mistake.
  One of the very first bills I cosponsored when I first came to the 
Senate was legislation to create the State Children's Health Insurance 
Program, or SCHIP as it has become known. It provides health care 
coverage for children in families where the parents do not have 
sufficient income to purchase health insurance and are not getting 
health insurance in the workplace, and yet they make a bit too much 
money to qualify for coverage under the State's Medicaid program. So 
these low-income children in working families have been falling through 
the cracks. That is why this law has been so important.
  I remember it well that Senator Hatch, Senator Kennedy, and Senator 
Rockefeller all came up to me to enlist my support. I was very eager to 
sign on as one of the original cosponsors of this law because I knew it 
could make such a positive difference. Indeed, it has.
  Since 1997, the SCHIP program has contributed to a one-third decline 
in the rate of uninsured low-income children. Today, an estimated 6.6 
million children, including more than 14,500 children living in Maine, 
receive health care coverage through this program. Still, there is more 
we could do.
  While Maine ranks among the top four States in reducing the number of 
uninsured children, we still have more than 20,000 children in our 
State who lack coverage. Nationally, about 9 million children remain 
uninsured. That is why I was so pleased to hear the conferees appeared 
to be very near to an agreement that is modeled on the legislation that 
passed the Senate in August with strong bipartisan support, in fact, by 
a vote of 68 to 31.
  Our Senate bill increases funding for the SCHIP program by $35 
million over the next 5 years, a level that is sufficient to maintain 
coverage for all 6.6 million children currently enrolled, and it would 
also allow the program to expand to cover an additional 3.3 million 
low-income children. In Maine, this legislation would allow us to cover 
an additional 11,000 low-income children who are currently eligible for 
the SCHIP program but not enrolled.
  I urge the administration to take a second look at the Senate bill, 
the bill that is the basis for the conference agreement. This 
legislation has made a real difference in the lives of working families 
with low-income children across this country. It is helping to ensure 
these children grow up to be healthy adults. Surely, we can get this 
done on a bipartisan basis before the program is scheduled to expire on 
September 30.
  I urge the President of the United States to reconsider his threat to 
veto this vital program, this highly successful program that has a 
proven track record of reducing the number of children who lack health 
insurance. If the President does proceed to veto the bill, I will vote 
to override his veto. Surely, this bill has a track record that has 
made a real difference to low-income children in working families. We 
simply cannot allow this program to expire. The extension and expansion 
we are proposing will enable us to more fully cover these children.

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