Frank Pallone: “I am pleased to say I will be joined tonight by the gentleman from New York [Mr. Serrano]. We are here, once again, to…”

“I am pleased to say I will be joined tonight by the gentleman from New York [Mr. Serrano]. We are here, once again, to talk about the lack of health insurance for children throughout this Nation. The figure of 10 million children who are uninsured has been put forward on this House floor many times, and it really is a scandal and, in my opinion, completely unacceptable. The number of children without health insurance is growing and it is increasingly children in working families who are without the coverage. Just in my own State alone we estimate that over 200,000 children are without health care coverage. In one of the dailies in my district, the Home News, just a few weeks ago in April, they did an editorial saying how inadequate coverage for children was in my home State. And they specifically mentioned that the Families USA organization here in Washington estimates there are 553,000 children in New Jersey receiving inadequate or no health coverage. So whether it is 200- or 500,000 in New Jersey alone, it clearly is simply unacceptable. What this really means is that many children simply do not get any care unless they get very sick and end up in an emergency room, and that procedure makes no sense.”