H202 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE January 14, 2009 

REAL CHANGE FOR AMERICA 

(Mr. MORAN of Virginia asked and 

was given permission to address the 

House for 1 minute.) 

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Madam 

Speaker, today it begins: the process of 

turning the rhetoric of hope into the 

reality of change. Today we will enfranchise 4 million children with 

health insurance, many of whose working-poor parents have had to watch 

their children suffering in bed from an 

accident or an illness not knowing how 

serious it is or what to do, only knowing that they couldn’t afford to find 

out. 

Now, we have passed this legislation 

before—twice—only to have it vetoed 

by President Bush. Why? Because we 

paid for it with a tobacco tax, which, in 

itself over the years, will save the lives 

of millions of people. 

But this bill that we pass today will 

be signed into legislation because 

that’s exactly what President Barack 

Obama meant when he promised real 

change for all Americans. 

f 

CONGRATULATIONS GATOR 

NATION 

(Mr. STEARNS asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Mr. STEARNS. Madam Speaker, once 

again I come to the House floor to 

honor the accomplishment of the University of Florida Gators. On Thursday 

night, the Gators won their second BCS 

national football championship in the 

past 3 years by beating a very good 

Oklahoma team 24–14. Add to this the 

back-to-back basketball championships 

in 2006 and 2007, Gainesville is quickly 

becoming known as the ‘‘City of Champions.’’ 

In their hard-fought victory, the 

Gators’ defense was able to hold Oklahoma—the highest scoring team in 

modern football history—to 14 points 

and 363 total yards. On offense, Tim 

Tebow showed why he is perhaps the 

best quarterback in the history of college football by finishing with 231 

yards passing and 109 yards rushing. 

Tebow becomes just the fifth player 

since 1950 to win two national titles 

and the Heisman Trophy. 

I congratulate Coach Urban Meyer 

and all of the Gator football players for 

their incredible accomplishments. 

Go Gators. 

f 

TODAY IS A GOOD DAY FOR 

AMERICAN FAMILIES 

(Ms. SCHWARTZ asked and was 

given permission to address the House 

for 1 minute and to revise and extend 

her remarks.) 

Ms. SCHWARTZ. Madam Speaker, 

today is a good day for American families. Today, we reauthorize the State 

Children’s Health Insurance Program 

for nearly 7 million children currently 

covered and to expand coverage to an 

additional 4 million uninsured children. 

My commitment to ensuring health 

coverage for every child in our great 

Nation is just as strong today as it was 

in 1992 when I successfully worked for 

the early creation of CHIP in Pennsylvania. Yet today, 9 million children are 

still uninsured—almost 140,000 children 

in Pennsylvania alone—and the number grows daily. 

As the economy continues to suffer 

and unemployment grows, more and 

more American families are losing 

their insurance coverage. Parents without coverage worry that their children 

will get sick or need to visit the doctor, and they simply do not have the 

money to pay. So as we work to reverse 

the economic downturn, we can and we 

should ensure that our children’s 

health will be protected now and into 

the future. 

Strengthening CHIP for 111 million 

children is the right thing to do, and in 

just 6 days, we will have a President 

who—unlike our outgoing President— 

will sign this bill and achieve this goal 

for America’s children. 

Change is here. It is a good day in 

America. 

f 

SUPPORT AMERICA’S FUTURE BY 

PASSING SCHIP LEGISLATION 

(Mr. WALZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Mr. WALZ. Madam Speaker, I, too, 

rise in support of SCHIP legislation. At 

a time when million of Americans are 

losing their jobs and companies are 

doing everything possible to cut costs, 

more and more families face the horrible prospect of going without health 

insurance. 

During these uncertain economic 

times, this Congress should invest in 

those most vulnerable and hardest hit. 

For the past 11 years, the Children’s 

Health Insurance Program has done exactly that by reducing the number of 

uninsured children by providing them 

access to private health insurance. 

Without this coverage, many of these 

children would go without critical 

health care attention that allows them 

to live productive and prosperous lives. 

Over the last 2 years, this Congress 

has worked to expand the program by 4 

million children. Twice we passed bipartisan legislation that was vetoed by 

President Bush. But now we have another opportunity to ensure those 11 

million children. President-elect 

Obama has promised to sign this legislation. 

Today, this Congress should once 

again do what’s right and help support 

America’s children and our future. 

f 

MONEY SPENT ON SCHIP IS 

MONEY WELL SPENT 

(Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut asked 

and was given permission to address 

the House for 1 minute.) 

Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Madam 

Speaker, today the House will debate 

and pass legislation to extend health 

care to 4 million more American children. 

In the richest country in the world, it 

simply defies our national conscience 

to allow any child to go to sleep in his 

bed at night sick just because his parents can’t afford to bring him to a doctor. These kids don’t deserve this fate 

and frankly, neither do their parents 

because three-fourths of the uninsured 

come from families with a full-time 

worker who just happens to work for a 

company that doesn’t or can’t provide 

health care. 

The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act will give 

States the confidence they need to improve their health care systems and increase outreach to ensure that all eligible kids have coverage. 

This is money well spent. Insuring 

kids is the right thing to do from both 

a moral and financial standpoint. It is 

time for the House to do what it’s done 

twice before and pass legislation that 

will get 4 million more kids the health 

care they deserve. 

f 

SCHIP LEGISLATION IS VITAL 

LEGISLATION 

(Ms. SPEIER asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute and to revise and extend her remarks.) 

Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker and 

Members, it is a remarkable day today 

because we will vote to insure 11 million American children. But the real 

question is, do we want to continue to 

be a third world country because we 

are the only industrialized Nation in 

the world that does not provide health 

care to its children. 

Twice our outgoing President has vetoed similar bills. But what is the cost 

of not providing medical coverage to 

our children? What is the cost of routine medical conditions clogging our 

emergency rooms? What is the cost of 

healthy children sharing classrooms 

and playgrounds with classmates afflicted with undiagnosed and untreated 

contagious diseases? 

Nearly three-quarters of the uninsured children qualify for Medicaid or 

SCHIP but are not enrolled. And with 

job losses, multiplying at a record 

pace, these numbers will only increase. 

I urge my colleagues to support this 

measure because simply put, we cannot 

afford not to. 

f 

CONGRESS NEEDS TO EXPAND 

HEALTH CARE COVERAGE TO 

CHILDREN 

(Mr. MCMAHON asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Mr. MCMAHON. Madam Speaker and 

my colleagues, as my eloquent colleague from California just pointed 

out, the United States is the only developed Nation in the world that does 

not provide health care for all of our 

children. 

Today, millions of children from 

modest-income families are not regularly seeing a doctor because they are 


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