Thomas Daschle: “Last week, over one-half dozen groups representing millions of Americans spread out across Capitol Hill to lobby for…”

“Last week, over one-half dozen groups representing millions of Americans spread out across Capitol Hill to lobby for legislation that would guarantee every child health insurance. Their message was simple: it is wrong that America, alone among industrialized nations, doesn't assure health protection for its children. We in Congress should heed their call and work together to erase this ignoble distinction. Bolstering their message was the release last week of the Children's Defense Fund's 1997 edition of the 'State of the Children Yearbook.' The picture that report paints of the state of children's health care is bleak. Every 48 seconds a child is born without insurance. One in every 7 children is uninsured for the entire year. Nearly 1 in every 3 is uninsured for at least one month during any year. Nine out of every 10 uninsured children is from a family where at least one parent works. In announcing the results of this report, Marian Wright Edelman, CDF's President, succinctly sums up the situation. 'Lack of health insurance is a problem we can solve right now and make a huge difference in many child lives. The issue is whether we care enough to build the political will to do it.'”