[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 24 (Thursday, February 12, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S996-S997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWN (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Casey, 
        Mr. Reid, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Bennet, Mr.

[[Page S997]]

        Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Cardin, 
        Mr. Carper, Mr. Coons, Mr. Donnelly, Mr. Franken, Mrs. 
        Gillibrand, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Heitkamp, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Kaine, 
        Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Markey, Mr. Manchin, 
        Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. 
        Murphy, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Peters, Mr. Reed, Mr. 
        Sanders, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Tester, Mr. 
        Udall, Mr. Warner, Ms. Warren, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mrs. 
        Feinstein):
  S. 522. A bill to amend title XXI of the Social Security Act to 
extend the Children's Health Insurance Program, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, we have made great strides in recent years 
ensuring that Americans of all ages have access to quality health care. 
Part of this success comes from the Children's Health Insurance Program 
created in 1997 as a joint State-Federal health insurance program for 
low- to moderate-income children and pregnant women.
  Because of CHIP, 10 million children, including 130,000 children in 
my State--most of whom are sons and daughters of working parents who 
are in low-income jobs and not making enough money to afford insurance 
and for employers that typically don't offer insurance--have access to 
health care today--health care they may not have received otherwise.
  We know CHIP works not just in the number of children insured under 
the program but because of the flexibility CHIP provides States and the 
quality of care children receive. It works. It works for children, it 
works for parents, and it works for communities.
  That is the good news. The bad news is, even though the law is on the 
books until 2019, the funding for CHIP will expire in September. That 
is why I am proud to introduce legislation today with my colleagues 
Senators Stabenow, Wyden, Casey, and Leader Reid to protect the CHIP 
program and to extend its funding to match the authorization until 
2019.
  The Protecting and Retaining our Children's Health Insurance 
Program--PRO-CHIP--Act is straightforward, it is common sense, and will 
provide much needed budget predictability for our States.
  The Republican Governor of my State supports CHIP. He understands 
they need it in Ohio and across the country sooner rather than later so 
they can properly budget and plan and avoid gaps in health care for 
vulnerable children.
  Again, these 130,000 children in my State alone are overwhelmingly 
sons and daughters of working parents who don't make enough money to 
pay for health insurance out of pocket, and who are working at 
companies and businesses that don't provide health insurance.
  I am honored that 30 of our Senate colleagues have already joined as 
cosponsors. Providing health insurance to low-income children isn't 
just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. Children stay 
healthier, families function better, neighborhoods are better off, and 
children do better in school as a result, with fewer sick days. They 
feel better when they are at school because they have a family doctor, 
because they have health insurance.
  We know it works. Listen to these numbers: Thanks to CHIP, the number 
of uninsured children has fallen by half, from 14 percent in 1997--when 
this bill passed with bipartisan support, and it has been extended and 
reauthorized a couple of times since--to a record low of 7 percent in 
2012.
  In nearly every State of the Union, Governors planning their State 
budgets and parents planning their family budgets are relying on us to 
extend CHIP now. We should not go right up to the deadline, as some are 
now talking about in terms of shutting the government down. We should 
not go up to the deadline but do it now. It would provide a sigh of 
relief for parents, not only for financial reasons but because CHIP 
means better access to comprehensive care for their kids.
  Think about the anxiety parents face knowing they have insurance 
today under CHIP but not being certain they will have it this time next 
year. We should act together to protect this vital program that 
provides comprehensive health care coverage for 10 million children. 
States will start to roll back their CHIP program and funding for the 
program will expire at the end of September if we don't act soon.
  This has always been bipartisan. It should continue to be. I look 
forward to working with all my colleagues to prioritize children's 
health and help pass this PRO-CHIP legislation as soon as possible.
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