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




                      IN SUPPORT OF THE CHAMP ACT

  (Mr. BACA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BACA. Madam Speaker, on behalf of the Congressional Hispanic 
Caucus, I rise in strong support of SCHIP or the Children's Health and 
Medicare Protection Act, CHAMP. There are 45 million uninsured, and 6 
million are children. These are children that are being impacted.
  We talk about having productive children in our school systems, 
improving the quality of life. You can't do it without a clean bill of 
health. We have the responsibility for our children. More than 70 
percent of uninsured Hispanic children eligible for public coverage are 
not enrolled. This is unacceptable.
  The CHAMP Act takes significant steps in reducing the barriers for 
all children and seniors of color in our community. Unfortunately, some 
of the Members are using this legislation as an opportunity to debate 
unrelated health care, specifically, immigration policies and other 
issues.
  We need to make sure that we support the CHAMP act. A vote for CHAMP 
will help more citizen children get access to health coverage which can 
be a difference between life and death.

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