For Immediate Release
September 24, 2007
For More Information Contact:
Ed Shelleby
(202) 662-3602
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) today called Congress’ new SCHIP agreement “a step forward” because it provides health coverage to one-third of the more than nine million uninsured children in America but urged Congress not to back down or compromise further in the face of a Presidential veto, and not to give up until all children have health coverage. The House and the Senate are scheduled to vote on the agreement this week.
“This step forward comes at a critical time — in the last two years alone, the number of uninsured children has increased by one million,” said CDF President Marian Wright Edelman. “This alarming jump is just one more reason that our children need a strong national safety net now so that every child has access to the health coverage they need to survive and thrive. Even if the President signs this bill — which he has threatened to veto — the job is not done. This legislation would cover only one-third of the uninsured children in America, leaving six million children without the health coverage they need. Congress must stand strong for children by passing this legislation without a single additional concession and then move forward to cover all children.”
CDF has endorsed the All Healthy Children Act (S. 1564/H.R. 1688) sponsored in the Senate by Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT) and in the House by Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA), which would provide comprehensive health coverage to more than 9 million children and pregnant women.
For more information on CDF’s campaign to provide health coverage to all children, please visit: www.childrensedefense.org/healthychild.