Steny Hoyer: “I want to talk not about the overall bill, as it is a good bill. I will enthusiastically vote for this. It speaks to the…”

“I want to talk not about the overall bill, as it is a good bill. I will enthusiastically vote for this. It speaks to the health needs of America. It speaks to the educational needs of our children. It speaks to working people, as well. But I want to refer to a couple of specific items. First of all, immunization. Immunization, I believe, is a critical concern, not only of this bill but of this country. There are areas of this country where immunizations are not nearly where they ought to be. In fact, generally speaking, we went back about 1 percent, from 78 to 77, overall immunizations of children in this country. It is inconceivable that in the year 2001, despite all of the technological and scientific advances that we achieved during the last century, Mr. Speaker, that nearly 1 million American children do not enjoy the benefits of full immunization. Indeed, only 77 percent of our 2-year-olds are adequately immunized. We need to continue to work to increase funding for this important program.”