Tina Smith: “Today is a momentous day. We have the opportunity to extend health insurance coverage to 10 million low-income children…”

“Today is a momentous day. We have the opportunity to extend health insurance coverage to 10 million low-income children, 4 million of whom, without this bill, simply would continue to be a statistic in the ranks of the uninsured. In Oregon alone, we estimate that at least 60,000 new young people will receive health insurance and possibly even more. Because of the outstanding work of my colleagues, Senators Baucus, Grassley, Hatch, and Rockefeller, and because of their work, we have before us a proposal that will garner wide, bipartisan support. I commend them for their efforts and thank them for their willingness to work with me to incorporate a number of important policies not only to Oregon but to millions of young Americans across this country. When I first arrived in the Senate in 1997, I had the opportunity to learn about an outstanding idea launched by two great colleagues, Senators Kennedy and Hatch. That idea was known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program.”