Political Quotes

“Thank you, Senator Rockefeller. The issues we are discussing today are extremely important, and I appreciate your leadership during CHIPRA to allow States to extend Medicaid and CHIP benefits to pregnant women and children in the first place. Last week, I came to the floor to express my opposition to amendments that were designed to punish immigrant families who are living on the verge of poverty by preventing them from accessing our Federal safety net. The Judiciary Committee refused to add many of these amendments to the bill, and I am pleased that the Senate heeded my call to reject the harshest of these amendments as well. Now, I would like to repeat something that Senator Rockefeller just said. The bipartisan immigration reform bill explicitly states that children and pregnant women granted RPI, Blue Card, and V-visa status are considered ``lawfully present'' in the United States. It is true that the bill contains language making these three categories of immigrants ineligible for ``any Federal means-tested public benefits'' as ``defined and implemented'' in section 403 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act,--PRWORA, the Federal law that limits some noncitizens' eligibility for certain Federal programs. However, this language does not eliminate the States' right to exercise the ICHIA option.”