    [Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 10, 2018)]
    [House]
    [Page H129]
    From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                  CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM FUNDING

      (Mr. RUIZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
    minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
      Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, nearly 9 million children across the Nation,
    more than 55,000 in my district alone, rely on the Children's Health
    Insurance Program for their healthcare.
      The deadline to fund CHIP passed and Congress has failed to provide
    long-term funding for the program, kicking the can down the road and
    leaving parents worried about whether or not their child will get the
    healthcare they need, because they are no longer covered, in the middle
    of a flu season no less.
      For decades, Republicans and Democrats have come together to fund the
    bipartisan and noncontroversial CHIP. It is unacceptable that this time
    around, Republican leaders proposed paying for CHIP by cutting other
    critical public health programs that CHIP recipient kids rely on, like
    vaccines. This is unconscionable.
      Stop using children's healthcare as a partisan weapon. Kids and
    parents deserve better. We must put our children's needs above
    partisanship and provide for the health of our children with a
    bipartisan, long-term funding solution for CHIP.

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