[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 181 (Tuesday, November 7, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7053-S7054]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Healthcare
Mr. President, I wish to turn now to another very important topic. I
have been speaking about workers, and now I wish to speak about our
children and standing up for our children.
Every year, 9 million children receive health insurance through a
very successful program called the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Children from low- and middle-income families who do not qualify for
Medicaid--working families--are able to receive healthcare through
CHIP, and every year, 25 million people, including 300,000 veterans and
7.5 million children, receive medical care from community health
centers in cities and towns and rural communities all across Michigan
and across the country. That is 9 million children who can see a doctor
when they get sick or hurt, and that is millions of parents who don't
have to lie awake at night, worrying about what will happen the next
time their child falls, breaks an arm, gets strep throat, or something
even worse.
Thanks to Republican inaction, these millions of parents do now have
to worry.
It has been 38 days since the Republican leadership let funding
expire for the Children's Health Insurance Program and community health
centers--38 days and counting--38 days when we could have been working
together to fund these important programs. Yet that didn't happen, even
though they have bipartisan support. That is 38 days of telling
children and hard-working families who use these programs that they
don't matter as much as other things we are doing.
For the longest time, the Children's Health Insurance Program and
community health centers have received strong bipartisan support, and
that is true today. If these programs--a bill that came out of the
Finance Committee and a bill that Senator Roy Blunt and I have
introduced--were brought to the floor, they would get strong bipartisan
support--if we could get them on the floor.
We are hearing from more than 1,000 organizations, including the
American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Heart Association, the
March of Dimes, and the National Association of Counties, all urging us
to take up the CHIP bill and to pass it--the 5-year extension, which is
so critical.
Senator Hatch on the Finance Committee, of which I am proud to be a
member, has worked with Senator Wyden, with me, and with others to put
together a good bill, a 5-year reauthorization of CHIP, on a bipartisan
basis, and 70 Members of this body, led by Senator Roy Blunt and
myself, have signed a letter of support for continuing funding for
community health centers. Senator Blunt and I, with eight other
Democrats and eight Republicans, have put in a bill to do that.
We know the support is there. The problem is, we cannot get it
brought up on the floor as a priority for the Senate.
As I mentioned, this crucial funding expired 38 days ago--more than a
month ago. Over those 38 days, the Senate has taken up 54 record
rollcall votes, Republicans passed their budget, and we have considered
16 nominees. But we haven't considered over the past 38 days the 9
million children who depend on the Children's Health Insurance Program
to stay healthy and the 25 million patients who use community health
centers.
We might be 38 days late, but there is no time like today to make
children and families a top priority. These programs are a big deal in
my State. Before CHIP, too many hard-working families in Michigan
couldn't afford to take their children to the doctor. Now, 97 percent
of our children in Michigan can go to the doctor. Moms and dads can
take their children to the doctor because of what has been put together
around health insurance, making health insurance available in
Michigan--the highest percentage ever--97 percent.
Last year, Michigan's community health centers treated more than
680,000 patients, including 12,710 veterans.
Having access to health insurance and healthcare we know is life-
changing and even lifesaving.
Just ask Jan of Davison, MI, whose daughter Suzi was covered by
MIChild--what we call CHIP, actually MIChild--in Michigan. Suzi was
diagnosed with ADHD as a child and later with bipolar disorder. In
Jan's words:
Without having access to quality health care, we would have
been lost. And thanks to MIChild coverage, we are able to
afford the help she so desperately needed.
Today, Suzi is a high school graduate and plans to go to community
college.
Albert, a resident of Owosso, MI, knows the value of community health
centers. He had graduated from high school and was taking college
classes. He had a great full-time job with health benefits. He said
that it was like a dream come true--until it stopped. Work dried up. In
a matter of months, Albert lost his job, his insurance, and his home.
He fell into a deep depression--and many of us would have done the
same. But Albert was lucky. A friend noticed that he was struggling and
urged him to visit Great Lakes Bay Health Centers. Within 2 weeks, he
had a medical appointment; 3 days after that, he was speaking with a
community health center counselor. As Albert said, ``It happened so
fast, there was no time for me to fall through the cracks.''
Today he is running a local business and has his confidence back. He
has lost 50 pounds and stopped drinking. He has rebuilt his
relationships with his family. And he is now giving back to the very
clinic that changed his life, serving on the board of Great Lakes Bay
Health Centers.
All of the children and the people who receive coverage and care from
CHIP and community health centers can tell their stories.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator has expired.
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, if I might just take 30 seconds to
complete my remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Ms. STABENOW. Thank you very much.
Let me just say in conclusion that we can fix this. We don't have to
put up one more day on the count chart. Today we can make children and
families a priority by passing critical healthcare that has the
bipartisan support to get it done, if we have the urgency to do so.
Thank you.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired.
The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Engel
nomination?
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator
from Kentucky (Mr. Paul).
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr.
Menendez) is necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 51, nays 47, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 264 Ex.]
YEAS--51
Alexander
Barrasso
Blunt
Boozman
Burr
Capito
Cassidy
Cochran
Collins
Corker
Cornyn
Cotton
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Enzi
Ernst
Fischer
Flake
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hatch
Heller
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
Manchin
McConnell
Moran
Murkowski
Perdue
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Rounds
Rubio
Sasse
Scott
Shelby
Strange
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Wicker
Young
[[Page S7054]]
NAYS--47
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coons
Cortez Masto
Donnelly
Duckworth
Durbin
Feinstein
Franken
Gillibrand
Harris
Hassan
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Hirono
Kaine
King
Klobuchar
Leahy
Markey
McCain
McCaskill
Merkley
Murphy
Murray
Nelson
Peters
Reed
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Stabenow
Tester
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
NOT VOTING--2
Menendez
Paul
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the President
will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
____________________