Sheila Jackson Lee: “The legislation by my friends is to destroy Peter to prop up Paul, rather than take the Pallone amendment-- which I want…”

“The legislation by my friends is to destroy Peter to prop up Paul, rather than take the Pallone amendment-- which I want to thank Ms. Slaughter for offering in the Rules Committee--to provide real funding and that would find a way to effectively support the Children's Health Insurance Program and, of course, the community health clinics, which, in the State of Texas, has been a lifesaver for all of our communities. We were the poster child for having the largest number--a quarter of our people in Texas--who did not have health insurance. With the Affordable Care Act and, of course, the community health clinics, we were able to do it. Let me finish by saying it was a bipartisan effort in 1997, with a balanced budget, that we created the Children's Health Insurance Program. It has been an effective, strong armor, if you will, around children's health. Everywhere I go, such as the Texas Children's Hospital, they are raving about the Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid. Today or tomorrow, we are going to break that system by taking money from somewhere else to destroy another healthcare program and putting in this program.”