Political Quotes

“Mr. President, it has been 1 month since I took to the floor of this body to urge my colleagues to work together to extend funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. Just this past month, I have held roundtables at almost every major city in Ohio to hear more about what CHIP means to people in Ohio. At each of these roundtables, I spoke with families who depend on CHIP to get their kids the care they need. Please understand that there are 130,000 Ohio children who are eligible for CHIP and who have benefited from CHIP, and in almost every case they are the sons and daughters of parents who work. These are parents who don't make enough money and don't work at a place where the employer provides insurance. They may be $9, $10, $11 or $12 an hour jobs. They are working, and the income they are making simply isn't enough to buy insurance for their kids and for their families. So that is the importance of rewarding work. These 130,000 children now have insurance because of a bipartisan bill, the Children's Health Insurance Program. They have had it for 20 years. It is in jeopardy now. Last week I was at the John R. Maloney Health Center in Columbus, where more kids rely on CHIP than anywhere else in the State. Some 13,000 children in Franklin County alone have health coverage because of CHIP. I spoke with Meredith Mendoza, a mother living in Gahanna, OH.…”