[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 143 (Tuesday, September 25, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12024-S12026]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, sometimes the American people demand that 
Congress and the administration enact initiatives to address 
fundamental national needs. During the Depression, we enacted Social 
Security to see that seniors lived their later years with dignity. In 
the 1940s, we opened the doors to education for returning veterans 
through the GI bill. In the 1960s, we took action to see that seniors 
had quality health care, and the result was Medicare. In the 1990s, 
Democrats and Republicans, Congress and the administration, States and 
the Federal Government all worked together to help alleviate the crisis 
in children's health by enacting CHIP.
  The success of each of these programs has echoed through the decades 
in the lives of millions of Americans. Today, we stand at a crossroads, 
faced with a choice with a path that will continue and strengthen the 
promise of good health and a strong start in life that CHIP brings to 
millions of children or whether we will turn away from that promise and 
curtail the help and the hope CHIP brings.
  Many of the best ideas in public policy are the simplest. The 
Children's Health Insurance Program is based on one simple and powerful 
idea: that all children--all children--deserve a healthy start in life 
and that no parents should have to worry about whether they can afford 
to take their children to the doctor when they are sick.
  CHIP can make the difference between a child starting life burdened 
with disease or a child who is healthy and ready to learn and grow. 
That is why CHIP has always enjoyed bipartisan support. This support 
goes back

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to 1996 when Massachusetts enacted a State program that became one of 
the models of CHIP. The Massachusetts Legislature passed a bill to 
expand coverage for children and paid for it by increasing the tobacco 
tax in the State. When that program was vetoed by Governor Bill Weld, a 
majority of the Republicans in the State senate stood with the 
Democrats to override the veto.

  I was proud to work closely with Senator Hatch to create the national 
Children's Health Insurance Program, and when CHIP went into effect 
across the country, among its greatest champions were Republican 
Governors who understood the importance of expanding health insurance 
for children in their States. Governor Leavitt in Utah and Governor 
Cellucci in Massachusetts were both champions of CHIP when they were 
Governors.
  The question for President Bush today is why he would even consider 
rejecting a program that has long brought Republicans and Democrats 
together to help children.
  CHIP allows parents to choose insurance for their son or daughter 
from a private insurance company. That is one of the reasons 
Republicans have long supported the CHIP program. Indeed, CHIP used the 
same private insurance model President Bush supported in creating the 
Medicare prescription drug benefit.
  If Members of Congress and the administration really feel strongly 
that it is wrong for the Federal Government to support health care 
coverage, maybe they should start by giving up their own taxpayer-
subsidized health care through the Federal employees program. If 
Members can take their children to the Attending Physician of the 
Senate, with all the benefits that affords, shouldn't all American 
children have access to quality health care too?
  President Bush has argued that CHIP costs too much, but I will tell 
you what costs more: treating children in emergency rooms after their 
conditions have become severe. CHIP saves money and untold suffering by 
getting health care to our Nation's children before they are seriously 
ill.
  CHIP is paid for by an increased tax on cigarettes, not by raiding 
the Treasury. That tax will itself save us countless dollars and lives 
by discouraging smoking. We have had extensive hearings in our human 
resources committee, the HELP Committee, about what happens when the 
cost of cigarettes escalates, and when the cost of cigarettes 
escalates, as included in this CHIP program, it has a dramatic impact 
on lessening the demand among teenagers and smoking. What has happened 
for years is that the industry itself has increased its advertising in 
order to try to hook these children back in. But this has a dramatic 
positive impact from a preventive point of view in helping children not 
become addicted to nicotine and cigarette smoking, so it is a win-win 
situation. It is using the private insurance companies' own model that 
was initially suggested by the President of the United States in the 
Medicare prescription drug program, and it is being paid not by the 
taxpayers but by the cigarette users. That will discourage smoking and 
will have a positive impact on children.
  The case for CHIP is stronger than ever. Today, 6 million children 
are enrolled in the program, children who otherwise would be without 
health care. But there are another 9 million children in America who 
still have no health insurance at all. Once again, Democrats and 
Republicans in Congress have come together for the common good.
  CHIP's success is impressive. Since CHIP began, the percentage of 
uninsured children has gone down even as more and more adults are 
losing their own insurance coverage because employers reduce it or drop 
it entirely. This chart reflects where it is in terms of the adults and 
the uninsured, now 47 million Americans who are uninsured. Look at what 
has happened to children. It has gradually been going down. There is no 
reason not to expect, with this legislation, that it will again go down 
somewhat. If we had accepted the more extensive House bill, it would 
have gone down even further. But this is a very significant achievement 
in reducing the number of children who do not have health care 
coverage.
  In the past decade, the percentage of uninsured children has dropped 
from 23 percent in 1997 to 14 percent in 2005. That reduction is 
significant, but it is obviously far from enough. This chart indicates 
the same. If you look at 1997, 22 percent of all children were 
uninsured. Now we are down to 13 percent and going down further. This 
is for children. Yet this President wants to veto this legislation.
  Recently, the Census Bureau reported in the past year that 600,000 
more children have become uninsured. The struggling economy is causing 
employers to drop family coverage, and even the robust and successful 
CHIP program hasn't been able to stave off decreasing coverage for 
children.
  CHIP helps to improve children's school performance. When children 
are receiving the health care they need, they do better academically, 
emotionally, physically, and socially. Look at this chart. We have 
demonstrated that when children are healthier, it increases their 
ability to learn their lessons. Learning in school is increased 
significantly. Look at the before and after in this chart. Before, 34 
percent paid attention in class; after, 57 percent. Keeping up with 
school activities: before, 36 percent; after, 61 percent. It is very 
simple: If a child can't see the blackboard, can't hear the teacher, 
can't understand what is happening in the classroom, they will lose 
attention and lose their ability to learn. If they have been able to 
have the kind of preventive health care included in the CHIP program, 
they are going to be healthier, more interested in learning, and their 
learning will be enhanced.
  We just passed education legislation where we went over the 
disparities that are out there. I will come to that in the next chart, 
but this is a very clear indication. If you are interested in children 
learning, CHIP is a program you have to support.
  Also, CHIP all but eliminates the distressing racial and ethnic 
health disparities for minority children who are disproportionately 
dependent upon it for their coverage. Look at this: White, Black, and 
Hispanic. This is before CHIP. Look at the numbers--27, 38, and 29. 
With CHIP, it is 20, 19, and 19. When we have outreach, we see a 
reduction in the disparities. We ought to have this as a goal, our 
national goal. We want all children to have health care coverage. This 
chart, which is from the Kaiser Family Foundation, indicates that we 
reduce the disparity for children with this CHIP program, which is 
enormously important. They are going to learn more and be healthier.
  When we put all of that together over a long period of time, it will 
save the country money because this is going to be a healthier 
population. It will cost less over a longer period of time. And we are 
paying for it by an increase in the cigarette tax, not by the taxpayer. 
So this is enormously important. That is why organizations representing 
children and health care professionals who serve them agree that 
preserving and strengthening CHIP is essential to children's health.
  The Bible tells us to ``open your hand wide to the poor and the needy 
in your land.'' Congregations across the country act on that command 
every day by providing needed help to those with medical needs in their 
communities. They are turning faith into works, but they know they 
can't do the job alone. That is why religious leaders from all faiths 
have called upon Congress and the administration to assist in this 
mission by renewing and improving CHIP.
  Today, we renew our bipartisan commitment to the job begun by 
Congress 10 years ago and to make sure the lifeline of CHIP is 
strengthened and extended to many more children. Only the Bush 
administration seems content with the inadequate status quo.
  First, the President proposed a plan for CHIP that doesn't provide 
what is needed to cover the children who are eligible but unenrolled. 
In fact, the President's proposal is $8 billion less than what is 
needed simply to keep the children now enrolled in CHIP from losing 
their current coverage--$8 billion short. Then, as Congress was 
negotiating the CHIP bill, the administration issued new guidance that 
would make it virtually impossible for States to extend coverage for 
children in their States with household incomes above 250 percent of 
the Federal poverty level. This would cause 18 States and the District 
of Columbia to drop children from coverage. It doesn't indicate

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that if the States permit those--that 250 percent of the poverty 
level--to be able to participate in the program, they can adjust 
premiums, the copays, and the deductibles in order to make it fair. 
Just a blanket ``no.'' Just a blanket ``no.'' What is most baffling is 
that the President has consistently threatened this veto.
  This chart shows what the costs are. This is really an issue of 
priorities. A 5-year CHIP reauthorization, $35 billion; 1 year of 
Bush's tax cut for the wealthiest 1 percent, $72 billion; and this is 1 
year in Iraq, $120 billion. So $35 billion for 5 years for children; 1 
year in Iraq, $120 billion.
  Here is another way of putting it. Around here, we express our views 
on priorities, and these are the priorities we have a chance to effect. 
A matter of priorities: the cost of Iraq, $333 million a day; the cost 
of CHIP, $19 million--$19 million to $333 million. We believe this is a 
bargain and something which is absolutely essential if we are going to 
look down the road at a younger generation that is going to be healthy 
and prosperous and learning. That is going to be key to the United 
States in terms of our ability to compete worldwide in this knowledge 
economy. We have to have young people who are gifted, talented, smart, 
and able, with a knowledge of the economy. It is essential if we are to 
preserve our national security and it is essential if we are going to 
preserve the institutions our Founding Fathers bequeathed to us, that 
our young people are able to function and work in order to guarantee 
the real rights and liberties which we cherish. All of this starts with 
having healthy children--healthy children built on the program which 
the President himself endorsed.
  I was there at the time the President strongly supported the way we 
were going to have the Medicare prescription drug program, and he 
fought for that. He was able to successfully gain it. Now he says it is 
unacceptable. Now he says it is unacceptable. He complains about the 
cost. But this doesn't cost the taxpayer a nickel; it will cost in 
terms of an increase in the cost of cigarettes.
  Finally, these children will be healthier, and therefore the savings 
over the period of years is going to be important and significant.
  The children of America should not become the latest casualties of 
this administration. The CHIP bill before us is a genuine bipartisan 
agreement that will help children in communities across the Nation and 
provide coverage to about 4 million children who would otherwise be 
uninsured. The bill moves us forward together, Republicans and 
Democrats alike.
  The support this legislation has from Republican Governors as well as 
Republican members here--particularly my colleague and friend, Senator 
Hatch from Utah, Senator Grassley, and others--is commendable. They 
understand exactly the reasons and the justification for this 
legislation. Quality health care for children isn't just an interesting 
option or a nice idea. It is not just something we wish we could do. It 
is an obligation. It is something we have to do, and it is something we 
can do today. So I will urge my colleagues to vote for this bill.
  This legislation will be before the House of Representatives this 
afternoon. Hopefully, we will have a strong vote over there and we will 
get that legislation at the earliest possible time.
  Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. McCaskill). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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