John Kerry: “Today the first bill I am introducing in the 110th Congress is the Kids Come First Act, legislation that would ensure…”

“Today the first bill I am introducing in the 110th Congress is the Kids Come First Act, legislation that would ensure every child in America has health care coverage. The Kids Come First Act was also the first bill I introduced in the 109th Congress and I feel just as strongly today as I did at the beginning of the last Congress that insuring all children must be a top agenda item. In the two years since I last introduced this bill, the problem of uninsured children in this nation has actually worsened. The 110th Congress faces many challenges, from the war in Iraq to lobbying reform. But perhaps no issue bears more directly on the lives of more Americans than health care reform. Today 47 million Americans are uninsured, including 11 million under age 21. Health care has become a slow-motion Katrina that is ruining lives and bankrupting families all over the country. We cannot stand by as the ranks of the uninsured rise and American families find themselves in peril. A recent Census Bureau report revealed that for the first time in almost a decade the number of uninsured children increased.”