[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9884]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 SCHIP

  (Mr. CARNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CARNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the SCHIP, the 
State Children's Health Insurance Program.
  My home State of Pennsylvania is a model for this widely successful 
program. Our distinguished former Governor, the late Robert P. Casey, 
knew how important it was for Pennsylvania's children to have access to 
quality, affordable health care.
  By meeting the health care needs of our children, we are better 
preparing them to be healthy adults. Numerous studies have shown that 
children with health insurance perform better in school and have higher 
attendance rates. Every child deserves a chance to grow up healthy and 
strong.
  As the proud father of five, I know personally how important it is to 
have access to doctors, pharmacists and hospitals that your family can 
trust. Unfortunately, not all families have this security. Children 
without insurance are sometimes forced to delay treatment or put off 
preventive care entirely.
  Our working families deserve better quality health care for their 
children. This is not a partisan issue. Rather, providing our children 
with health care should be a top priority for this Congress. Since its 
enactment in 1997, SCHIP has been enormously successful in reducing the 
number of uninsured children across the country.

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