[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18782]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 SCHIP

  (Ms. SCHWARTZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SCHWARTZ. Mr. Speaker, in 1992, I was proud to spearhead one of 
the first State initiatives to enable working families to purchase 
private health insurance for their children; 5 years later Congress 
passed the State Children's Health Insurance Program, SCHIP, enabling 
every State to implement its own plan.
  Today 6 million American children have health coverage thanks to 
SCHIP. We in Congress are building upon the extraordinary success of 
SCHIP to extend it to almost 9 million American children who are now 
uninsured. The goal of insuring all American children is within our 
reach.
  Yet, instead of working with Congress to reach this goal, the 
President this week made it clear that health insurance for children is 
not important to him.
  Does the President really believe that America's children do not 
deserve quality ongoing health care? Does the President really believe 
that emergency rooms are the best place for primary care for children?
  It is clear to just about every American that health insurance is 
expensive, and for too many American families, it is simply too 
expensive.
  Congress recognizes the urgency of the situation, and we move ahead, 
unlike the President, to take this opportunity to cover every American 
child.

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