    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 30 (Monday, July 28, 1997)]
    [Pages 1113-1116]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks on the Childhood Immunization Initiative

    July 23, 1997

        Thank you very much. Thank you, Dr. Guerra. Senator Kennedy, Senator
    and Mrs. Bumpers, Secretary Shalala; to all the childhood immunization
    advocates, the State and local officials, all of you who have worked in
    this garden for so long, we welcome you here.
        Hillary and I were the first--part of the first generation of
    Americans to receive the polio vaccine. Some of you, perhaps, are in our
    age group, and you were also. I remember when I got the polio vaccine. I
    remember being a child and having seen the pictures of all the children
    who were afflicted with polio. And I remember being very conscious that
    some enormous burden was being lifted

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    off of my life, that I was being given a chance that people just a
    little older than me didn't have. And it made me grateful in an
    incredibly personal way for immunizations, I think in a way that nothing
    else ever could have, although, to be sure, my mother saw that I got all
    my other shots, and I screamed and squalled with the best of children.
    But I was old enough to know what I was doing when I got my first polio
    vaccine.
        And I'll never forget--I think Betty Bumpers was the first person
    who ever talked to me about this whole immunization issue, and I just
    never could figure out what the problem was. To be honest, I didn't
    understand--even 20 years later, I'm not sure I fully understand why it
    has been as hard as it has been. But I now know what all the elements of
    this endeavor have been, and I cannot thank those of you who have
    labored as long as you have to make this day come to pass.
        The American people will never know that countless number of people
    who have harbored the dream that every child could be immunized, have
    labored to break down all the barriers, have struggled against all the
    problems so that we could come here today and say that the new
    statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control tell us that more
    than 90 percent of our 2-year-olds have actually received the critical
    doses of routinely recommended vaccines. But you know what it means and
    America is in your debt and we thank you.
        Now record numbers of our children, our youngest and most vulnerable
    children, are actually safe from potentially deadly diseases, such as
    diphtheria, tetanus, measles, polio, and meningitis. We set a goal, and
    we're meeting it. And all of you who have been part of it deserve a lot
    of the credit. I want to join what Hillary said and again thank Dale and
    Betty Bumpers for what they've done and for their personal inspiration
    to us. And I thank you, Dr. David Satcher, for all you've done as head
    of CDC, for your personal inspiration to so many.
        Today, we have to look ahead to see what challenges are left for our
    children and their health. Almost a million children under the age of 2
    are missing one or more of their recommended shots still. Too many
    children across America continue to fall ill with diseases that a simple
    immunization could have prevented. We have to make sure that every child
    now is safe from every vaccine-preventable disease. We're taking two
    steps to help close the gap.
        As parents move from place to place, they often leave their
    children's immunization records behind. Their new doctors often cannot
    get access to these records. So I'm directing Secretary Shalala to start
    working with the States on an integrated immunization registry system.
    That's the kind of thing most people can't remember, but it may have
    something to do with whether their children live or die. And we have to
    do it and do it right.
        We're also requiring that all children in federally subsidized child
    care centers be immunized. Since so many of our youngest children spend
    at least part of their days in child care outside the home, this, too,
    can be an important step in our efforts to reach some of the children
    still falling through the cracks.
        The progress we've made in immunization is one of our proudest
    achievements, and we have the opportunity this summer and fall to take
    even bolder steps. But let us remember, we have to finish this job. We
    are celebrating a milestone today, but we have not completed the job.
    Let me also say that we are on the verge, as Hillary said, of enacting
    the single largest investment in health care for children since Medicaid
    was passed in 1965. Today, 10 million of our children have no health
    insurance.
        The balanced budget agreement that we reached with the leaders of
    Congress and that passed both Houses with large majorities takes
    dramatic and concrete steps to right this wrong. Originally it included
    $16 billion for child health care. Then in the United States Senate, a
    strong bipartisan majority passed a 20-cent-per-pack increase in the
    cigarette tax to add $8 billion more for a total of $24 billion. That
    will clearly give us enough money to cover another 5 million children.
    That is the right thing to do. I regret that some now believe they
    should back away from it. It would be a mistake. I intend to fight to
    keep that money in the budget and fight for our children. And I want to
    thank Senator Kennedy for his leadership

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    and ask all of you to join us. Thank you. [Applause]
        Let me say that in some ways, as many of you understand, this is a
    problem not unlike the immunization problem, because there is more than
    money involved. That is, What does it mean to provide health care
    coverage to 5 million more children? How can we make sure that there are
    5 million kids who don't have insurance now and not just children that
    are being dropped from insurance and picked up on a public program? And
    what kind of insurance should they have anyway?
        The Congress has some very challenging, substantive policy issues
    before it. But I think in the end the goal ought to be pretty simple: We
    want the children without health insurance to have the kind of health
    care we want for our own children. This means everything from regular
    checkups to surgery. Some in Congress want a very watered-down package
    of benefits at a level well below that now provided by Medicaid and
    Federal employee health plans. I think that would be a big mistake. It
    is not necessary, and we shouldn't do it. I am also determined that this
    money be invested wisely, truly providing new medical insurance and not
    simply replacing benefits already covered.
        Finally, let me say that this 20-cent increase in the cigarette tax
    not only will provide necessary resources to protect and improve
    children's health; by raising the price of cigarettes, it will
    discourage children from starting to smoke in the first place.

    It is the right thing to do.

        This is the opportunity of a generation. It has literally been a
    generation since we did anything this much for children's health
    insurance. We mustn't waste it. The balanced budget plan, the tax cut,
    all these things we have to keep in mind putting our children first. In
    the days to come, as we try to hammer out the details, a breakthrough
    for children's health should be at the heart of our objectives.
        We also ought to make sure that the tax cut we pass is good for our
    children. I have proposed a plan that focuses on the needs of families,
    to help them raise their children and send them to college. It is
    responsible; it is affordable. We don't want to return to the days when,
    under the guise of helping people, we gave them endless exploding
    deficits. Fiscal responsibility helped to produce a strong economy and
    fiscal irresponsibility would surely weaken it. We can have the right
    kind of tax cut plan, but we ought to keep the children in mind there,
    too.
        Finally, let me say that, as I said earlier, one of the things we
    expect to do that will really help us close the remaining gaps in
    immunization, is to require children in federally subsidized child care
    centers to be immunized. I'm convinced the next great frontier we have
    to cross to really, truly enable American families to reconcile the
    demands that they face in the workplace and the demands they face at
    home is to make sure we have quality, affordable, available child care
    for all the American people who need it.
        One of the reasons I've supported this children's tax credit and one
    of the reasons I want it to be given to people of modest means who are
    working hard out there for salaries of less than $30,000, is I want to
    help people pay for the right kind of child care. This is very
    important.
        On October 23d, the First Lady and I will convene the first-ever
    White House Conference on Child Care, to discuss the strengths and
    weaknesses of the present system in America and to try to find ways to
    translate that discussion into action to achieve our goal, just as we
    have achieved this goal today.
        Immunization, health care, child care, all these reflect our faith
    in the potential of every child and honor our obligation to every
    family. For all the work you have done to help make this remarkable day
    come to pass, I thank you, your fellow citizens thank you, and I hope
    someday the American people will truly understand the magnitude of the
    endeavors that so many of you in this room have undertaken for the next
    generation of our children.
        Thank you all, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:20 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Fernando Guerra, director of
    health, San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.

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