    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [June 16, 1999]
    [Pages 950-951]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Proposed Legislation on Immigrant Children's Health
    Improvement
    June 16, 1999

        I am pleased that today a bipartisan group of Senators, led by
    Senators Chafee and McCain and including Senators Graham,
    Mack, Moynihan, and Jeffords, have
    taken an important step in ensuring health care coverage for children by
    introducing the ``Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act of 1999.''
        When I signed the 1996 welfare reform law, I pledged to work toward
    reversing the unnecessary cuts in benefits to legal immigrants that had
    nothing to do with the goal of moving people from welfare to work. As
    part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and the Agricultural Research
    Act of 1998, my administration worked with Congress to restore vital
    health, nutritional, and disability benefits to hundreds of thousands of
    vulnerable legal immigrants. Recognizing that more needs to be done, my
    budget includes

    [[Page 951]]

    a $1.3 billion proposal to restore health care benefits to children and
    pregnant women, nutritional assistance to elderly individuals, and
    disability and health assistance to legal immigrants who become disabled
    after they arrive in the United States.
        The proposal introduced today, which is similar to the one in my
    budget, would provide health care coverage for over 55,000 children,
    allowing States to use Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance
    Program (CHIP) for pregnant women and children who are legal immigrants,
    regardless of when they came to the U.S. I look forward to working with
    Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to enact this legislation
    to help many children lead healthier and more productive lives.