Lincoln Chafee: “I want to stress once again that these are all emergency or health-oriented measures. Emergency Medicaid, prenatal…”

“I want to stress once again that these are all emergency or health-oriented measures. Emergency Medicaid, prenatal Medicaid services, short-term disaster relief, nutrition programs, immunization. We do not want these legal aliens hesitating to apply for those because they are reluctant to go to their sponsor, because they are a long distance from their sponsor, because their problems might involve with just going to their sponsor to start with. We want them immunized. We want them to have prenatal care. We will not spend a lot of time asking a lot of questions. We have decided as a nation, not just out of generosity, but for the rest of us who are here, that we want illegal aliens, immigrants, immunized so that we will not have a whole series of infectious diseases passed around. Certainly we ought to have the same requirement or hope that the same thing will apply to the legal aliens. Mr. President, that is the argument. On the basis of fairness and the basis of public health protection, I hope we support the amendment.”