[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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