October 25, 2007 

Mr. ALTMIRE. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues on the other side for their weeks of expressing to us what their concerns were about the SCHIP bills that we've passed. And I'm happy to say that we've heard those concerns, and in this bill that we're voting on today we address those concerns.  They were concerned, as am I, about coverage for illegal immigrants. And this bill expressly prohibits coverage of illegal immigrants. 

They were concerned about the coverage of adults, including adults who are currently covered in the SCHIP program. This bill eliminates coverage for those adults and all childless adults.

And they were concerned about income levels. They wanted to keep this program for low-income children, and this bill today caps at 300 percent of poverty the qualification level for families to get into the SCHIP program. So there should be no reason for any of my colleagues on the other side to vote against this bill.

Let's vote to ensure 10 million children receive the health care that they deserve.