Barbara Lee Supports SCHIP Legislation to Provide Health Care for 11 Million Children
For Immediate Release
February 4, 2009
Contact: Nicole Y. Williams
(202) 225-2661
This Legislation Is Estimated to Provide 694,000 Uninsured Children In California with Health Care Coverage
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-9) joined a majority of her House colleagues in supporting of the final version of bipartisan legislation to provide health care to 11 million children in modest-income families. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization Act was approved by a vote of 290-135. Passage by the House today sent the bill to President Obama’s desk for his signature. President Obama will sign the bill later this afternoon. She released this statement:
“Today we will take the long overdue step to expand health insurance coverage to over 11 million children throughout the country. As our nation remains mired in the depths of the worst economic crisis since the great depression, the action we take now could not be more important or more necessary.
“The fact is that the economic policies of the outgoing administration have left our nation in worse shape than we were eight years ago. Today, more people are living in poverty, more people are living without health insurance, and more people are unemployed than they were eight years ago. As always, it is the most vulnerable, the children, who suffer the greatest during tough economic times like these.
“In my state of California, there are currently 1,253,000 uninsured children. This legislation will reduce the number of uninsured children in California by 55 percent covering an estimated 694,000 children.
“Ultimately we must move our nation towards a universal health care system to cover all children and all Americans. This bill is an important step forward. The nation’s children have waited far too long for this moment.”
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