Louise Slaughter: “I rise to defend this bill and the children of America. It has been painful for me to hear the mischaracterizations…”

“I rise to defend this bill and the children of America. It has been painful for me to hear the mischaracterizations again of this bill. In the first place, adults will have 1 more year on this bill. And let me remind everybody listening that the only reason adults are on there is because the Bush administration gave States the right to do it. They will all be gone within 1 year. Nobody will be moved off of private insurance onto the Federal insurance. The bill even allows States to give money to private insurance companies to keep the children on those rolls. I've never heard so much obfuscation, even praising tobacco for medical people to try to stop taking care of America's children. A healthy group of children growing up in this country will absolutely redound on every one of us by the benefits that we will get from it. It is a tragedy to me, it is something that none of us should be able to even tolerate the thought of, that there are children in this country that don't have the vaccinations, that don't have the health care they need, that they are prevented from getting doctors appointments because they have no way to pay for them. It is an obligation if ever there was one. We have an opportunity to do it. It is paid for. We're not asking to increase the debt or anything else. It is a bill that deserves the vote of every Member of the Congress, and the President's signature, if ever there was one.”