[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.

                          ____________________