[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20758]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2315
                      CHAMP ACT AND DENTAL HEALTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support 
for the Children's Health Medicare Protection Act, entitled CHAMP, of 
2007, which makes great strides in improving our Nation's health care 
system.
  It chills the conscience to think that approximately 9 million 
children are currently without health insurance. An estimated 18,000 
Americans died last year because they did not have access to health 
care, many of them sadly were children.
  There can be no justice until all of our children, our most valuable 
resource, are granted access to the most technologically advanced 
system in the world.
  Individuals travel from every corner of the globe to access our high-
quality health care. Yet, we cannot seem to provide care to the 
individuals in our own backyard.
  The CHAMP Act would begin to begin to change that injustice, 
committing $50 billion to reauthorize and improve the State Children's 
Health Insurance Program, our Nation's health care safety net for low-
income, uninsured children.
  The Act does not expand the SCHIP benefit to wealthy children or 
adults, as some would argue. It merely provides benefits to the same 
low-income children who we originally intended to cover.
  Most of the 9 million children who are currently uninsured are 
eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP, but do not receive the benefits because 
of enrollment barriers and underfunding.
  The CHAMP Act will lift the barriers and raise the funding so we can 
get our children the care they so desperately need.
  It is with great enthusiasm that I support this landmark legislation. 
I am pleased that my colleagues have been able to rise above the 
political rhetoric to develop legislation that will have a significant 
impact for our Nation's most vulnerable children. I am also pleased 
that my chairman shares my commitment to improving children's access to 
dental care. The chairman recognizes, as I do, that oral health is an 
overall component of overall health, and we cannot afford to ignore the 
dental health needs of our children.
  I applaud efforts to include a dental benefits package and dental 
quality assurance methods in the CHAMP Act. I also want to thank the 
chairman and of my fellow colleagues from Maryland, including 
Congressman Albert Wynn, for their support of two initiatives that I 
had promoted to increase children's access to dental care under this 
legislation.
  The first would allow federally qualified health centers to contract 
with private-practice dentists, significantly enhancing our Nation's 
dental safety net. The second one requires the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services to provide educational materials to new mothers on the 
importance of oral health and the services available to their children, 
with the goal of stopping dental disease before it even starts. Both 
initiatives will cost little or nothing, while yielding excellent 
results for our children.
  Congressman Wynn and I know the importance of protecting our children 
from dental disease. It was a short 5 months ago that a 12-year-old 
Maryland boy died when an untreated tooth infection spread to his 
brain. Forty dollars worth of dental care might have saved his life, 
but he never got that opportunity.
  As I have said before, Deamonte Driver's case was rare and extreme, 
but he was by no means alone in his suffering. Dental disease is the 
single most common chronic disease in this country, and it is 
preventable.
  Finally, all it takes on our part is the will to protect our 
children. I am pleased that so many Members of Congress have 
demonstrated this will, and I encourage all my colleagues to support 
the vitally important CHAMP Act.

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