[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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