[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 22157-22158]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  ADDRESSING CRITICAL HEALTHCARE NEEDS

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)

[[Page 22158]]


  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, I listened with a somewhat incredulous 
nature here to my colleague from Minnesota repeating the litany from 
our Republican friends that somehow this is a leap into socialism and 
represents a dramatic change.
  Well, first of all, Madam Speaker, it ought to be clear that there 
are some States where there have been eligibility limits that have been 
increased. But why? Because Governors, including many of them 
Republican Governors, have requested waivers. Who gives the waivers? 
They have been granted by the Bush administration. If you think it is 
wrong to expand health care for more children, for some with slightly 
higher income levels, then stop granting the waivers.
  This isn't a problem that somehow Democrats are leaping into 
socialized medicine. This is an effort at the State and local level to 
meet these critical problems. That is why the legislation today is 
going to pass with overwhelmingly partisan support.

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