CONGRESSMAN SPACE: NATION'S CHILDREN SCORE MAJOR VICTORY TONIGHT
Congressman Zack Space (D-OH) tonight joined a bipartisan majority of House members to extend the landmark State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for five years. Nationwide, the program covers 6.6 million children.
In Ohio, SCHIP currently provides insurance to 145,000 children in working families as they begin their young lives. This landmark legislation also strengthens SCHIP by ensuring that only legal residents may receive coverage, streamlines the application process to minimize complicated paperwork, and extends dental care to all children insured by the program.
The Children's Health and Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act, which contains the SCHIP provision, passed the House by a 225-204 margin. The vote came hours after Congressman Space received assurances from House leadership that the bill would not include coverage for illegal immigrants. A provision calling for "no federal funding for illegal aliens" was included in the final version of the bill.
"This is a major victory for the children of southeastern Ohio and all over America," said Space. "Our children are our most vulnerable population. We have a moral imperative to make sure that they deserve to start their lives out on the right foot."
"What we have done tonight is bring hope and promise to these young boys and girls and to their families."
Space and a group of conservative Democrats pushed House leadership over the last 24 hours to make sure that loopholes in the original law were closed, so that illegal immigrants could not game the system. Their efforts were answered with the inclusion of the amendment prohibiting resources to be used for these people who are already in violation of the law, expending Americans' taxpayer money.
The bill will now go to a conference committee to be reconciled with the Senate version of the bill.
Congressman Space represents Ohio's 18th Congressional District. Elected in 2006, he is working to restore integrity to the office, expand Ohio's economy, and support renewable energy.