Political Quotes

“I rise to discuss the Children's Health Insurance Program. This Congress 20 years ago passed CHIP. It was an invention of Senator Kennedy and Senator Hatch, both Senators who cared a lot about what we do to help low-income children. I was at Mercy Health Clinic in Cincinnati late last week, and early this week I was at Dayton Children's Hospital, talking to families who have benefitted from the Children's Health Insurance Program. In the great majority of cases, the parents of these children have full-time jobs--often two jobs. They typically make significantly less than what we would call a living wage. They rarely have any kind of health insurance, although now they are entering the exchanges or perhaps Medicaid--more likely the exchanges--but their children are not getting health insurance except through CHIP. It has been around for 20 years, and there are about 10 million children in the United States who benefit from the Children's Health Insurance Program. The Children's Health Insurance Program is law. It has been reauthorized up through 2019, but the funding for it expires this September. I have spoken with members of the Senate Finance Committee, including my colleague here, Senator Nelson from Florida, who has been a big supporter of the Children's Health Insurance Program. Senators Casey and Stabenow have been very involved, Senator Gillibrand, and as I said, Senator Hatch was one of the founders of this program, along with Senator Kennedy.…”