[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 142 (Monday, September 24, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11998-S11999]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  CHIP

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, the Children's Health Insurance Program is 
a sound investment. It protects our children. It fosters their 
development. It helps them thrive. Children without health insurance 
are children taken to emergency rooms instead of doctors' offices. They 
are children whose care is delayed and delayed, until simple sickness 
becomes serious illness. They are children who need our attention, our 
compassion, our help.
  The President has said he opposes this legislation because 
philosophically he thinks children should be covered by private 
insurance, not by the Children's Health Insurance Program. It does not 
matter whether these children in reality should be covered by private 
insurance. What matters is that these children are not covered by 
private insurance. Simply, they are not covered at all.
  By lodging a veto threat against this bill, the President is saying 
that if private insurers have not made room for low-income children, 
then we should not make room for them either. That is not just faulty 
logic, it is faulty ethics. At the same time, the President argues that 
the Children's Health Insurance Program is too expensive.
  We are suggesting--bipartisanly, in both Houses, with a program that 
started 10 years ago, with a Democratic President, Bill Clinton, a 
Republican House, a Republican Senate; a bipartisan initiative from 10 
years ago--we are suggesting an increase of $7 billion a year over the 
next 5 years--$35 billion.
  Contrast that with the war in Iraq. Mr. President, $7 billion a year, 
to cover 4 million uninsured children in this country, 75,000 in my 
State of Ohio--$7 billion a year--contrast that with $2.5 billion a 
week on the war in Iraq. Mr. President, $7 billion a year; $2.5 billion 
a week. Yet the President says that is too much to take care of 4 
million children.
  Uninsured children do not have the luxury of time. They cannot will 
themselves to remain healthy until individual insurance becomes more 
affordable or employer-sponsored coverage stops eroding or the 
President becomes more pragmatic. It is up to this body, this week, to 
take action.
  In Ohio, the Demko family can tell you why they value the Children's 
Health Insurance Program. Emily Demko, 3 years old, has Down Syndrome. 
Because of her condition, she is automatically denied private health 
coverage because Down Syndrome is considered a preexisting condition.
  Emily was covered by the Children's Health Insurance Program until 
March 31 of this year. Under the Children's Health Insurance Program, 
Emily was able to receive the therapy she needed to reach all of her 
developmental milestones in an age-appropriate way. But in March, Emily 
was cut off from this program because her father made $113 too much per 
month for the family to qualify.
  Her father is self-employed. Her mother stays at home to care for 
her. Without health insurance, the bills for Emily's care total $3,700 
per month, which, of course, is impossible for the Demkos to pay.

  The Demkos' family income falls within the range of 250 and 300 
percent of poverty. Emily has now been without health insurance for 6 
months. Governor Strickland and the Republican legislature, 
bipartisanly, raised the threshold for the Children's Health Insurance 
Program in Ohio if the Feds go along, if the President signs our bill, 
to 300 percent of poverty--not for families living in the lap of 
luxury, but families such as the Demkos who have seen their daughter 
cut off from her health insurance because of a preexisting condition 
and falling out of eligibility because her father makes $100 too much 
per month.
  So far, Emily is not regressing, but there is that possibility with 
Down Syndrome. Her parents cannot afford the insurance for themselves 
either. But more than anything, they want to see 3-year-old Emily 
covered. They worry about what will happen to her without the therapy 
she needs. She does not qualify for any other programs despite her 
disability.
  I wish President Bush would talk to the Demko family, would keep them 
in mind as he considers whether to sign the Children's Health Insurance 
Program. I hope he wants to make life better, not harder, for this 
hard-working family and help Emily to thrive.
  The Children's Health Insurance Program will expire September 30 
unless

[[Page S11999]]

the President signs this bill. The House and Senate have found a 
compromise that works for both parties. The version we passed in the 
Senate passed with 68 votes, more than enough to override a veto. The 
compromise version is very much like the Senate version, even though 
some of us would like to see us do a bit more.
  The compromise would cover 4 million American children, as I said, 
75,000 of them living in my State of Ohio. These children did not 
choose to be uninsured. They are not uninsured because their families 
walked away from private insurance. Understand, most of the children in 
the Children's Health Insurance Program are sons and daughters of 
working parents, parents who are working hard, playing by the rules, 
simply not making enough money to buy private insurance, and their 
employers are not providing that insurance.
  The fact is, private insurance too often steers clear of too many 
working families in Akron and Toledo and Zanesville and Marion and Lima 
and Marietta. These families are uninsured because they have no choice. 
Their children have no choice. But we have a choice. We can choose to 
help them. Let's do it.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.

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