Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007

CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - October 25, 2007)

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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act. I thank and commend the distinguished Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Dingell, and the chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Rangel, as well as the subcommittee chairs, Mr. Pallone and Mr. Stark, for their hard work and dedication in bringing this bill to the floor today. I also want to commend the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for her dedication to the children of America and her steadfast support for a strong, inclusive S-CHIP bill.

The issue before us is simple. Either you believe that 10 million low-income kids deserve health care or you don't.

I know the President and some of my Republican colleagues don't want to have this debate. They don't want another vote on the S-CHIP bill. They want this issue to just go away.

Well, I have some news.

This isn't going away. We're going to keep fighting until 10 million kids get the health care they so desperately need.

It is astounding to me--it literally takes my breath away--to watch President Bush fight to deny health care to children. It is shameful.

From day one, President Bush and the Republican leadership in the House trashed Democratic proposals to insure children who--at no fault of their own--are falling through the cracks of the health care system.

It's clear that America's health care system is broken. Too many are uninsured. Too many rely on emergency rooms for their health care. And, at the same time, health care costs continue to rise--making it harder for businesses to provide their workers with the health care they need and

making it too expensive for individual families to buy on their own. And God forbid if you have a pre-existing condition--you can forget it.

All of us here in Congress have world-class health care, and so do our kids. Maybe the problem is that not enough members of Congress understand what it's like to struggle, to spend sleepless nights worrying about a sick child, wondering how you're going to pay for their doctor's visits.

Today, the Democratic majority--with the help of some brave Republican Members--will once again approve an S-CHIP bill that provides health care to 10 million children.

This is what we were sent to Congress to do.

The only logical conclusion we can take from President Bush's veto, from the partisan political attacks on a 12-year-old boy and his family, and from the continued stonewalling of this bill, is that the majority of Republicans don't want to provide health care to children.

It's that simple. Republican leaders tried to block this bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee. Then they stretched the truth about who would be covered.

Let's be honest here--the House and the Senate will approve this bill and President Bush--the former compassionate conservative candidate--will veto it. The question is, how many Republicans will continue to vote to deny health care to 10 million children and how many will--for the well-being of these children--decide to stop playing politics and vote to override the veto?

Madam Speaker, House Democrats have come more than halfway. This bill doesn't go as far as I would like, but it's a good, bipartisan effort. It addresses the issues raised by some on the other side of the aisle. The bill President Bush vetoed never provided health care to illegal immigrants--despite the incorrect claims coming from the other side. This bill makes that even clearer. The bill President Bush vetoed never provided health care to families making $83,000 a year and

neither does this bill. The bill President Bush vetoed took 2 years to phase out adults currently on the S-CHIP program and this bill speeds that timeline up to 1 year.

Let me be clear--under this bill, families who can afford health care will not be eligible for S-CHIP. Under this bill, illegal immigrants will not be eligible for S-CHIP. Under this bill, adults will not be eligible for S-CHIP.

But 10 million American children who don't have health care will get the help they so desperately need. The time has come for the members of this body to make a choice--will they stand with the children of America, or will they stand with President Bush?

I know where I stand, Madam Speaker.

It's time to stop playing games with the lives of children. It's time to pass this bill.

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