Frank Pallone: “I do not like to give out what I would consider unfavorable statistics about our country, because I am so proud of our…”

“I do not like to give out what I would consider unfavorable statistics about our country, because I am so proud of our country, but you mentioned about our situation here in America versus other countries. If you look at, again, this is from the Children's Defense Fund, this report we have been talking about this evening, they point out that in every industrialized country children get better health coverage than in the United States. Every other industrialized country provides health coverage to all its people. America, of course, does not even cover all its children. The United States ranks 18th in overall infant mortality. Only Portugal does worse. And if the United States matched Japan's infant mortality rate, more than 15,000 American babies who died before their first birthday in 1994 would be alive today. The United States ranks 18th in the percentage of babies born at dangerously low weight. No industrialized country does worse.”