Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007--Continued

Floor Speech

CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND MEDICARE PROTECTION ACT OF 2007--Continued -- (House of Representatives - August 01, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, as I rise here today, something after 6:30 p.m., I was reminded as I listened to the presentations of a poem that most of us memorized when we were young by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
That is known as the Children's Hour.

That's this time of day. This is the children's hour. Because of the leadership of so many of our colleagues, we are able to meet our moral obligation to our children. It isn't a pause in our occupation. It is our mission, this moral obligation that we have to the future.

When I was sworn in as Speaker, I was surrounded by children. It was very exhilarating, and I called the House of Representatives to order on behalf of all of America's children, establishing this Chamber as the champion for our children and for the future.

Our legislation is called CHAMP because it does just that. It champions quality health care for America's children and for our seniors, strengthening families. It is just one way in which this new direction Congress is putting health care and particularly the needs of our children at the top of the Nation's agenda.

With the passage of this legislation, the new-direction Congress will ensure that 11 million of America's children receive health care coverage, and seniors will receive improved benefits under Medicare.

I want to join those of my colleagues who have expressed their appreciation for the exceptional leadership of our chairmen of the full committees and the subcommittees and the ranking members of the full committees and the subcommittees for the honest debate that we are having about this legislation today.

I think it's important to note, because it's history, that our distinguished chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Dingell, when he was a new Member of Congress gaveled down the Medicare bill. That's his family tradition, looking out for health care for all Americans. His father was a leader on that subject in this Congress, and imagine that he as a young Member, well still a young Member, but a younger Member of Congress, gaveled down Medicare. And today, he is in the lead on this legislation that will strengthen Medicare for America's seniors.

And at the same time, thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Rangel. Between the two of them, Mr. Rangel and Mr. Dingell, they had 22 hearings on the subject of SCHIP. So this Congress has had a thorough review of this subject, and this excellent legislation is the product of that.

I was inspired by your speech, Mr. Rangel. You persuaded me, not persuaded me to vote for the bill. I always intended to do that, but persuaded me that it was possible that we might have a strong bipartisan support for this bill because it is so much the right thing to do.

I thank Congressman Stark and Congressman Pallone, Chairs of the appropriate subcommittees of their committees, for their leadership, their intense knowledge of this subject, the judgment they were able to bring on decisions that we had to make about what would be in this bill. Thank you, Mr. Stark and Mr. Pallone, and thank you again, Mr. Rangel.

And I thank again Mr. McCrery for his, again, comity and the dignity and the knowledge that he brings to this debate. Thank you, Mr. McCrery.

And to all of the staff on both sides of the aisle, thank you for your hard work on this. Their efforts will help millions of American children and seniors live better lives.

SCHIP, created by a Republican Congress and a Democratic President, signed into law by President Clinton, SCHIP has dramatically reduced the number of poor, uninsured children in America. The legislation before us today will improve SCHIP and the lives of millions of working families in America by improving coverage for all 6 million children currently insured under SCHIP and by extending that coverage to 5 million additional children. Those children will receive dental care and, thanks to Congressman Patrick Kennedy, mental health services.

Dental care, we so take it for granted for our own children, but after this legislation is passed, no more will we have the Demonte Driver where we have to have a situation like that where a child will die because he had an abscessed tooth that turned into a brain infection. We're all familiar with the details of that sad story. Today, we are doing something about it.

Let us be clear, most SCHIP beneficiaries receive their coverage through private managed care plans, not through the government.

And let us be clear, as the chairman just pointed out, this legislation is paid for; no new deficit spending, no heaping mountain of debt on these children to pay for the health care they so rightly deserve.

In addition to providing coverage to children, the CHAMP Act also, as we know, strengthens and improves Medicare for every senior by eliminating coinsurance requirements and deductibles for preventive care. Imagine that, for preventive care, how important that is. The legislation reduces copayments and provides for mental health parity, and many more seniors will no longer face the doughnut hole. Remember our old friend, the doughnut hole. Well, many more seniors will no longer face the doughnut hole in the prescription drug benefit. We do all of this and more for seniors and, I repeat, with pay-as-you-go budget rules and extend the life of the Medicare trust fund by 3 years.

By passing the CHAMP Act, the New Direction Congress is keeping our promise to seniors on Medicare and meeting our obligation to our future, our children. Again, and it is paid for. I can't say that enough.

The distinguished chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee read a long list. There are pages and pages. I would submit them for the Record, except it would be very expensive to print. There are so many names that are endorsing this legislation. They range from the Children's Defense Fund, as was mentioned, the Catholic Hospitals Association, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the old, the young, everyone across the board, all the health organizations that administer to the needs of our children and our seniors.

I just say in conclusion, Mr. Speaker, as Pearl Buck said, ``If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.'' With this CHAMP Act, we are not going to fail America's children. We are championing them and their grandparents.

This legislation has fiscal soundness. It has a values base, and it should have the support of everyone in this body.

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