[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2631]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE

  (Mr. COURTNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. COURTNEY. Today, February 4, 2009, will go down as a historic 
milestone in America's long journey towards universal health coverage. 
In a few hours, with a bipartisan vote, the House will pass an 
expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program, extending health 
insurance to 4 million more American youngsters, keeping a promise that 
President Obama made to the American people to get this much-needed 
change accomplished. He did it in 2 weeks' time. I would just say, 
contrast that with the 2-year rancorous partisan debate that divided 
this country over the issue.
  The new Congress and the new President are delivering on this 
incredibly important step towards extending health coverage to 
children--strengthening their dental coverage; strengthening their 
mental health coverage; locking in for States like Connecticut 
eligibility so that working families' children will be insured and will 
be covered.
  Building on that success, extending health IT technology to our 
health care system, which is included in the stimulus package, 
extending people with unemployment Medicaid coverage, we are going to 
move forward as a country towards universal health coverage. Today will 
go down in history as an important step forward to accomplish that 
much-needed goal.

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