Tina Smith: “I wish to assure the manager of the bill that I will be as brief as I can on this big issue. All of us who are parents…”

“I wish to assure the manager of the bill that I will be as brief as I can on this big issue. All of us who are parents know that the health of a child is critically important in ensuring they have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Yet today in America there are approximately 6 million children who are eligible for either Medicaid or SCHIP who are going without health care nevertheless. In Oregon alone, there are approximately 60,000 kids eligible for assistance who are not getting the help they need. Therefore, the debate before us is about whether we as a country will invest in our young people by providing access to health coverage or whether we will leave these children without the essential building blocks of health care upon which they can build successful lives. I believe in the promise that SCHIP represented in 1997. It was one of the first bills I worked on, with an amendment in the Budget Committee. I urge my colleagues to support the bill the Finance Committee has now produced which sees this whole promise of CHIP one step closer to fulfillment. This bill will allow States to cover an additional 3.3 million children, and in Oregon that would allow an additional 100,000 children to receive health care coverage.”