Charles Norwood: “I rise to support H.R. 3722, and I would note if safety and security is the main concern of our country, then perhaps we…”

“I rise to support H.R. 3722, and I would note if safety and security is the main concern of our country, then perhaps we ought to start at the borders and enforce the laws that we have on the books. Were we doing that, this legislation would not be needed. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of illegal aliens in Georgia rose 300 percent. That was from 33,000 to 226,000 according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Nationwide, the estimates of how many illegal aliens live in our country range from 8 to 11 million, it sort of depends on who one talks to. Those that do work do not have health insurance, and technically the law forbids them access to Medicaid. However, document fraud led many to question how many illegal aliens are fraudulently obtaining Medicaid today where we have a problem for our own citizens in every State having enough money to take care of Americans. Last month, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta is on the verge of closing its doors. Grady treats more illegal aliens than any other hospital in the State of Georgia. It only gets 7 percent of its revenues from patients with private insurance. In 2002, the State of Georgia paid $58 million in emergency Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals that treated more than 15,200 illegal aliens, according to the Georgia Department of Community Health. About 75 percent of the funds went to pregnant women delivering babies.”