Political Quotes

“I wish to thank everyone for all their work in putting this bill together. I fully appreciate the significant challenges that Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Specter face in balancing spending priorities with limited resources. I want to thank them for restoring $99 million in funding for the Children's Hospital GME program. Unfortunately, that level is still almost $200 million below last year's level. CHGME is a valuable investment. It made it possible for children's hospitals to sustain and expand their teaching programs without having to sacrifice their commitments to clinical care for all children and research to improve children's care. These hospitals are major safety net providers of inpatient and community-based ambulatory care for low-income children and--as most of us know--the hospitals we depend on to care for seriously and chronically ill children. Spending has grown less than 4 percent over 5 years since the program was fully funded. Congress reauthorized the program with overwhelming bipartisan support last year and set a new funding level at $330 million, which is based on continuing equity with Medicare GME. The House Labor-HHS appropriations bill funds the program at the $307 million level, which I hope we can achieve in conference. I know that both the chairman and the ranking member are strong supporters of this program, and it is my hope that we will be able to work together to secure the House number in conference.”