[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9885]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    HOUSE DEMOCRATS LOOK TO COVER SOME OF OUR NATION'S UNINSURED BY 
                        EXPANDING SCHIP PROGRAM

  (Ms. HOOLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. HOOLEY. Madam Speaker, last month the Democratic Congress showed 
the commitment to expanding health care coverage to millions of 
children who are currently uninsured. In our budget for the upcoming 
fiscal year, we included a $50 billion funding increase for the SCHIP 
program so that we can provide health to millions of additional 
children.
  After SCHIP was created 10 years ago, the number of uninsured 
children began to fall every year. But last year, for the first time 
since 1998, the number of uninsured actually went up.
  As we recognize Cover the Uninsured Week, it is important to 
highlight the growing number of families without access to affordable 
health insurance and the need for this Congress to strengthen SCHIP 
now. For 6 long years, this problem of the growing number of uninsured 
has been ignored. This new Democratic Congress will not ignore the 
problem. We are committed to expanding health insurance to millions of 
children who need insurance, and our budget gives us the opportunity to 
achieve this worthy goal this year.

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