Steve Kagen: “last evening I introduced you to a young girl that I had the honor of representing in northeastern Wisconsin. This is…”

“last evening I introduced you to a young girl that I had the honor of representing in northeastern Wisconsin. This is 3-year-old Kailee Meronek. Kailee and her family live in a trailer home just north of Appleton, and she receives care only because the United States Congress passed a Republican-inspired bill called the SCHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program. And through that program, funds were sent to Wisconsin, and we created in Wisconsin a program called BadgerCare. BadgerCare guarantees that nearly 57,000 citizens throughout the State have access to health care. And because they see their doctor in their doctor's office, the costs for their health care go down. They are not seen in the emergency room. They are seen in the doctor's office. Kailee gets health care because of BadgerCare. But BadgerCare and SCHIP are in limbo. Their futures are in doubt. Why? Because this Congress is considering and will vote on Thursday morning whether or not to override President Bush's veto of this fundamentally important program that provides health care to millions of our children who are most in need across the country. The SCHIP bill, which was vetoed by the President, guarantees that our children, the children of our Nation, have access to health care at the physician's office. It focuses on those who are among us that need us the most: our Nation's children.”