WASHINGTON -Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) issued the following opening remarks during consideration of H.R. 3162, the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007 (CHAMP Act):
“There is no question in my mind that everyone on this Committee as well as the Congress and the country has the burning desire to expand healthcare for American children. We do this, not just because it is the right and moral thing to do, but because in the long run, it makes for a stronger America, stronger communities and helps prevent expensive, debilitating, chronic diseases.
"Expanding access to health care for children not only saves money in the long run, but it puts this country on a path to be more competitive internationally. By starting with our very young, our very fragile, we give them an opportunity to have better health, which means a better education and a better job and ultimately more productivity.
“Looking at the bill before us today, I realize that just talking about a tax can be politically difficult. I have a history of opposition to excise taxes, but in light of the heavy financial weight smokers place on Medicare expenditures and the overwhelming proof linking the increase in cost of tobacco products with a decrease in youngsters buying cigarettes, I am very pleased to have worked with my colleagues on the bill we are reviewing today.
“I recognize that most of the provisions in the CHAMP Act have been colored by various groups who call these reforms. Well, when people are losing money they hardly think it is reform. I want to make it abundantly clear that the Committee will continue reviewing all of the decisions we make alongside recommendations made by the GAO and others to ensure that we are searching for equity and bipartisanship at every opportunity."
To listen to Democratic leaders talking about the CHAMP Act, blocked::https://waysandmeans.congressnewsletter.net/mail/util.cfm?mailaction=clickthru&gpiv=1999940335.15827.316&gen=1&mailing_linkid=4093
