Date: 2007-10-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I also want to add my voice and sorrow that goes out to the Davis family. Mr. MEEK. Mr. MURPHY. this is also Breast Cancer Awareness :Month. Since we know that our dear colleague. Mrs. Davis. succumbed to breast cancer after a valiant 2year battle. I think i is important to note that we are in Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer affects so many women from so many different walks of life. and it strikes every potential family. whether youre a Member of Congress. a maintenance worker. whether youre a scientist or someone from any walk of life. It is important that we focus our research and our effort. our dollars. our passion and our commitment to finding a cure for this horrendous disease. My prayers and thoughts go out to her family as well. Madam Speaker. that having been said. I do have to tell you that I go back to my district and have talked to lots of different groups at home and in various places around the country. and when I bring up the possibility of the fact that President Bush might. and then did. veto a bill that would expand access to health care to 10 million kids. people really look at me like we must be working with aliens from another planet. Really. The jaws drop open. the puzzled look on peoples faces in the audiences that I speak in front of. when I tell them that most of the Republicans and this President are actually opposed to expanding access to childrens health care. Now. they will say they are not. They have been saying. no. no. we support it. But words are pretty hollow when it comes to a mom or a dad whose child is suffering with a fever and they have no health insurance. which means they cant call up a doctor like we can and make an appointment to have a simple checkup or to get some antibiotics. and that they have to wait until their child is so sick. until that temperature climbs to about 104. 105. until youre ready to push the panic button. fly in your car. if you have a car. if you have a way to get yourself to the emergency room. to take your child to the emergency room to use it as your primary health care access. People get that this is simple: You are either for making sure that kids -have health care. or youre not. The lame excuse that they use. Mr. MEEK and Mr. MURPHY. is that they try to tell people that this is covering kids whose parents can afford insurance already. or who are already covered. They actually say that there are people that will drop the health insurance that they are paying for privately now to sign up for SCHIP. that that is exactly what any rightminded parent would do. is drop comprehensive health care coverage that they already have so that they can hopefully qualify for and keep their child qualified for a health insurance program that is really targeted for kids who fall in the gap. Madam Speaker. not only is that completely wrong. its a shell game designed to take away the focus that is clearly being shined on them right now. that shows that we are for children and they are not. That is the bottom line. It is very simple. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have a simple choice coming up next Thursday. October 18. They can stand with the kids and make sure that kids who fall in the gap. who dont qualify for Medicaid. whose families arent poor enough to qualify to get them Medicaid. and whose families cant afford to buy private health insurance. the gap of those kids in the middle. we need to make sure we cover them. Its the bottom line. Mr. MURPHY.