Political Quotes

“A quick history lesson: CHIP, 1996, a bipartisan offering; a Democratic President, Bill Clinton; a Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich; as part of welfare reform, we are going to move people from welfare to work. But what do we do about the children? If those parents are moved into employment, they are going to lose their Medicaid. Their children will be lost at sea. So CHIP was created. CHIP was created as a block grant program, maximum flexibility to the States. It was authorized for 10 years. Then when the Affordable Care Act passed, CHIP was authorized for 10 years; funded for 5 years, but authorized for 10 years. We are finishing up that tenth year of authorization with this bill. I actually wanted only a 2-year bill as we started. I compromised. Committee Democrats wanted a 5-year bill. Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans wanted a 5-year bill. We gave you a 5-year bill. We funded community health centers. We delayed the DSH cuts that were part of the Affordable Care Act that our hospitals back home were saying we can't manage. Remember, everyone was supposed to be able to lay down in the Elysian Fields of ObamaCare, except they are not, so our hospitals are tasked with taking care of uninsured and underinsured patients. We need to delay those DSH cuts. But here is the thing that really strikes me. We passed a 5-year bill through this House. Two dozen Democrats voted for it.…”