Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy
On The Children’s Health Insurance Program
September 26, 2007
Mr.
President, I wish to express my strong support for the reauthorization
of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. When we talk about the work
of this Congress, I believe the extension of CHIP will stand out as one
of the great accomplishments of this body. This bill is a clear
statement of the priorities of the Majority in this Congress.
In passing this legislation we state clearly that
the health of our Nation’s children is an issue too important to be
dealt with in a “business as usual” fashion.
This is a program that represents the best of what
can happen when members from both sides of aisle come together to forge
a consensus. The outcome is a solid compromise on a vital issue: more
health insurance coverage for millions of kids. Unfortunately, the
President seems to have completely missed the boat. From his initial
proposal -- which was so modest that kids currently on the program would
lose their health care -- to his recent veto threats, the President is
just plain wrong on this issue. The choice is clear. Either you
support children’s health care or you do not. Either it deserves to be
a high priority on our agenda, or it does not. And frankly, I do not
see this as a choice at all. This is a matter of priorities, and few
issues are as important as caring for our kids. Instead of helping more
families that are struggling to afford basic health care for their kids,
the President would cut thousands in Vermont who have coverage right
now. He is failing to lead, so Congress again is stepping in to realign
our priorities.
If we can find the money to fund the war in Iraq
for 41 days -- the same amount that would pay for ten million children
to have health insurance for a year -- we can pay for this bill. I have
heard some argue that this bill should be opposed because it raises
taxes on tobacco – just tobacco. Anyone who opposes the bill on these
grounds is choosing Big Tobacco over children’s health.
I support this bill because I believe it is a
travesty that in the richest, most powerful country in the world, there
are more than 47 million people without health insurance. That is an
absolutely shocking number. It represents roughly one in six people who
are going without regular trips to the doctor and forgoing needed
medications, and who are forced to use the emergency room for care
because they have nowhere else to turn. These are our friends, our
neighbors, and millions of our children. The legislation before us will
extend and renew health care coverage for ten million children. After
years of increased numbers of uninsured Americans in this country, that
is a solid step in the right direction. No one is arguing that this
bill is the solution to our health care crisis.
There are many of us in this body that would like
to see this legislation go even farther in covering more children. But
this bill represents progress. It covers four million more kids, and
has sparked a national discussion on how to begin reforming our health
care system.
In my home state of Vermont, we have been a
national leader on children’s health care. Even before the creation of
CHIP, we knew that this was the right thing to do. Because of our early
action, Vermont has one of the lowest rates for uninsured kids in the
country, making our state a leader and an example to the rest of the
Nation. This bill will bring us closer still to the goal of covering all
the kids in our state. The provisions in this bill also will reverse
Bush Administration policies to cut kids off the program and will ensure
that thousands of Vermont kids will still have basic health care.
We are faced with many choices here in the Senate.
For me, the choice on this bill is clear. This is a must-pass bill that
is worthy of our support. I urge all my colleagues to stand for the
children of this country and support this bill, and I urge the President
to abandon his ill-advised threats, and to sign it into law.
# # # # #
