Bob Corker: “I rise this evening at this late hour to again talk about the SCHIP bill before us, but even talk a little further about…”

“I rise this evening at this late hour to again talk about the SCHIP bill before us, but even talk a little further about health care for all Americans. I don't think there is anybody in this body who believes that at some point we are not going to extend children's health care coverage. I think everybody in this body realizes what we are doing right now is talking about how, in fact, that is going to be done. Even if the President were to veto this bill, I think all of us realize that again, in some form or fashion, we are going to come back together and we are going to make sure the children of America benefit from the SCHIP program that has been in place now since 1997. I think as we look at the issues we are dealing with on this SCHIP bill, as we look at the many issues we are dealing with involving Medicaid and Medicare, I know of no other moment for us to more fully be able to debate the future of health care in our country in general. I think all of us know, as the Senator from Minnesota said and many Senators before her have said, there are 45 million Americans today who at some point in time during the year did not have health insurance. In my own State of Tennessee, we have 800,000 people in the State who do not have health insurance. The toll is enormous.…”