bill line by line and suggest changes. live coverage begins at noon astern on c-span2. >> the u.s. house has completed its work for the week. next week they'll debate hydropower policy and business regulations. watch live coverage of the house here on c-span when they return. before leaving today, the house voted to extend chip, the children's health insurance program, for five years. it also continues community health centers and other health programs and provides for more medicaid funds for puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands. however, it makes a number of changes to the health care law to pay for those provisions. here's that hour-long debate. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. walden: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, we're here today to consider a very, very important public health bill. h.r. 3922, the championing healthy kids act. this legislation funds a

five-year extension of the children's health insurance program known as chip. along with a two-year extension of community health centers and numerous other critically important public health programs. this bill will deliver quality health care and peace of mind to millions of americans. the patients and families helped by this legislation are our neighbors and our friends. more than eight million children receive chip-funded coverage and more than 25 million patients are served by our community health centers and other important programs. this five-year funding of chip marks one of the longest extensions of the program since it was created 20 years ago. the policy we are considering mirrors the bipartisan policy that's been introduced and voted out of our sister committee in the united states senate. funding for these important programs expired september 30. the committee worked on a bipartisan basis well before this deadline, to try and reach

a bipartisan agreement on a range of policies to yaufer set the costs of this very critically important funding extension. three times at the request of the democrats we delayed committee action. three times. we tried to find offsets that were agreeable as we've always been able to do before. unfortunately that was not the case this time. these delays meant congress went past the deadline of september 30. while states still have rollover chip funds available, and the next wave of community health center funds won't go out until next year, we cannot wait any longer. patients cannot wait any longer. patients need care. these critical programs need funding. and we must move forward. in my district alone, there are 12 federally qualified health center organizations with 63 delivery sites. they leverage $41 million in federal money in order to serve more than 240,000 patients in

oregon's second district. these health centers, and i visited many of them, are prevention and public health in action. often rving as the main provider of care for people for hundreds of miles around. we're also extending the tional health service corps. and the teaching health center graduate medical education program. mr. speaker, these are really important work force programs that place qualified providers into se of the most underserved areas of our country. in addition to community health centers and the work force programs, this bill extends the funding for the special diabetes program and the family to family health information centers. the peonal responsibility progm. and the youth empowerment program. these locally based patient-ntered organizations provide comprehensive services to those most in need. moreover, this legislation eliminates two years of the across-the-board cuts to medicaid allotments called for under the affordable care act,

obamacare, we delay those cuts foa disproportionate share of hospitals for two years. medicaid dish funding represents an important component of many state medicaid programs and is particularly relied upon by many states to help provide additional resources to key safety net providers. now, while this relief is only temporary, and does not address the larger structural challenges under obamacare, it woulgive congress time to explore what budget-neutral approaches ere might be delegate existing dish dollars on a morequitable and fair basis. in my state alone of oregon, hospitals have told me this relief in this bill just for them represents $6.8 mllion over the ne two years that they can use to helpow-income people get access to hospital care. in paying for this package,nd this is the area where we have most disagreement with the democrats, we have take an fiscally responsible approach. like using existingunding

streams for prevention and public health efforts, for prevention and public health efforts. and ensung high-dollar lottery winners a removed from the medicaid program so its limited resources can be prioritized for the most vulnerable. and stopping individuals on the affordable care act's exchanges from gaming the system. the bill also asks medicare's wealthiest 1%, people who are retired and making 40,000 -- $40,000 a month, not a year, a month, to pay about $135 more for their medicare, just on parts b and d, that's already subsidized by 75%. just a little more so we can fund children's health insurance program -- children's health insurance for five years. while it was not ultimately possible, unfortunately, to reach consensus on some of the policies to offset the new funding in this bill, there is broad bipartisan agreement on the core policies contained in this legislation.

i believe there's bipartisan support for many of the reasonable and fiscally responsible offsets contained in house resolution 3922. so, mr. speaker, this is good legislation. this is long overdue legislation. it reflects the good work done by your house energy and commerce committee, and i urge my colleagues to put politics aside today and ensure these vital programs get funding extensions they need. we're over the deadline. it's time to act. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i rise today to speak in opposition to h.r. 3922, a partisan bill to re-authorize the children's health insurance program or chip, as well as community health centers and other public health programs. it pains me to be here today because this should not be a partisan bill. i have tried for months to negotiate with republicans to develop a bipartisan compromise,

but house republicans chose to spend the first nine months of this year by trying to repeal the affordable care act. they failed. now house republicans are using the re-authorization of chip and community health centers as a way to once again sabotage the a.c.a. make no mistake, mr. speaker, if republicans can't repeal the a.c.a. outright, they'll cripple it any time they can. this time republicans are risking the health care of nearly nine million children and the care of families all around the country that use community health centers. they're risking that care because this partisan bill has no chance of ever becoming law. by taking this route, republicans are guaranteeing the chip and community health centers will not be re-authorized until the end of the year. and that's extremely unfortunate. mr. speaker, i strongly support chip, our community health centers, and all of our public health programs that are extended in this bill. these programs have traditionally been bipartisan. the bill before us extends these programs by taking billions of

dollars away from the affordable care act and undermining medicare. in short, this republican bill offers a false choice. in one hand, it strips health care away from upwards of 680,000 americans and guts the prevention fund, which pays for immunization and vaccines, lead poisoning prevention, opioid treatment, and many other important programs. and on the other hand, it re-authorizes these important programs. democrats strongly support re-authorization of these programs but we reject the way republicans are paying for fem. so, mr. speaker, there are so -- them. so, mr. speaker, there are so many other policies that save money. countless alternatives that democrats have offered to republicans for months. yesterday i offered an alternative that would have provided a robust re-authorization and extension of these important programs and it was paid for in a commonsense way. my alternative would have changed the timing of payments to medicare advantage plans. this approach was recommended by both the g.a.o. and the office of the inspector general. but republicans rejected it in

the rules committee. they wouldn't even allow it to come before the full house for a vote. and why? it's because they would rather use re-authorization of chip and community health centers as another way to sabotage the affordable care act. i simply reject that approach and strongly urge a no vote. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. walden: mr. speaker, before i call on my next person to say something here, there are 17,000 children in mr. pallone's district and 14 health centers. that if he votes no, he'll be voting against. and by the way, the offset he recommended, people need to know who are watching this, would violate statute in our pay-go -- it would be a pay-go violation. that's why it was not acceptable. this is the problem we face. we delayed three times at their request. only to be offered up a pay-for that violates statute and violates our pay-go rules. we cannot accept that. we have to operate within the law. like everyone else in america.

i now yield four minutes to the gentleman from texas, dr. burgess. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for four minutes. mr. burgess: i thank the gentleman for yielding the time, for the recognition, and let me just say, i want to thank members of the health subcommittee, both sides, who have worked hard on this legislation. it is unfortunate that it was not brought to the floor of the house in the month of september. from a subcommittee perspective, we were ready. we had our legislative hearings in june. we were delayed one time, when the whole house recessed after the shooting of the members of the baseball practice. but were rescheduled for two weeks later and we had a successful hearing, we had a good hearing. a lot of facts were laid out. we came up with commonsense legislation that was offset in a responsible way. the offsets are not draconian. and we have before us a bill

today that will in fact fund some of the nation's most important public health programs. it does fund the state children's health insurance for five years. five years. one of the longest extensions for this program since its inception in 1996. it len sure that children and families -- it will ensure what children and families who rely on this program will continue to receive the access this need. it also includes in a fiscally responsible way to delay the harmful obamacare mandated cuts to safety net hospitals who also provide care to underserved patients. think about that for a minute. we're accused of undermining obamacare, but here's a cut that obamacare mandates to your safety net hospitals across the country. not just in texas, but across the country. and we're replacing that today in a fiscally responsible way. provides funding for community health centers, an important part, important key part of health care in communities

across the country. and it will help americans who rely owns -- on these vital health services. not only does the bill provide assistance for underserved populations, but it does so without adding to the national debt. the committee for a responsible federal budget called this, quote, a responsible health package, closed quote. noting that the $18 billion cost is fully offset with savings beyond the 10-year budget window. other groups have also been supportive. texas hospital association, texas health resources for me back home, the children's hospitals, and a number of health care organizations. have data from mackpack who advise congress on policy. they have advised us on, under current law there are no new federal funds for state children's health insurance for fiscal year 2018 and beyond unless congress acts to renew funding, all states will

experience in in chip funds for 2018, which means if someone is contemplating a no vote on this bill, if you're contemplating a no vote, you do need to be aware that if you live in the states of arizona and minnesota, you ran out of money in october of 2017. north carolina, same situation. oregon runs out next month. vermont runs out next month. you need to think about your no vote before you apply it. every single u.s. territory, with the exception of puerto rico, runs out of -- ran out of money in the month of october. so a few facts that people do need to bear in mind, that if a -- that if they vote no on this bill, what the actual implications of that are. yesterday during the debate on the rule i heard a lot of discussion about taking money out of the prevention fund it. doesn't take money out of the prevention fund -- fund. it doesn't take money out of the prevention fund but it does provide discretion for some public health dollars, takes it away from the executive branch and redirects these dollars to

proven public health programs that enjoy broad bipartisan support in congress, like community health centers. so, we are fulfilling our article i responsibility. we shouldn't just be giving everything to the administration to decide how to spend money, whether it be a democratic or a republican administration. this is the right thing to do. i'm proud of the work done by our subcommittee. i think our subcommittee staff has performed admirably on both sides of the dice. i urge a yes vote on -- dias. i urge a yes vote on the bill. it is time to act. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. . mr. pallone: mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from california, ms. eshoo. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. ms. eshoo: i rise to oppose this bill, the so-called championing healthy kids act.

first off, we are a month late and many dollars short. it was the majority that brought it up late. we didn't have anything to do with late. secondly, we're playing political games with the lives of 14% of the children in my congressional district who received their health insurance through the children's health insurance program, and the five federally qualified health centers in my congressional district. they provide medical, dental, mental health services to almost 55,000 of my constituents every year. re-authorizing these historically bipartisan programs is critical to the health and safety of not only my constituents but millions of others across our country. today, the republican majority is holding them hostage by insisting to fund these programs by means testing medicare beneficiaries, kicking individuals who purchased their health coverage on the

marketplaces off their insurance and gutting the public health prevention fund established in the affordable care act. remember, the republicans have set their budget based on eliminating the affordable care act. my state of california will run out of funding for chip sometime between now and december, and this has never happened before in the history of this program. the community health centers in my district told me about the difficult decisions they have to make because congress has not re-authorized -- i thank the gentleman. because congress has not re-authorized their funding, including layoffs of physicians and closing clinics' doors. we're playing with people's lives here. if we can't find the funding for these important bipartisan programs, then we don't deserve to be members of congress. i cannot support a bill that hurts people instead of helping them.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. walden: thank you, mr. speaker. i recognize myself just to respond. my friend -- and she is my friend from california, obviously wasn't aware it was her party, her leader who asked on three occasions delaying this vote to the floor. october 23, mr. pallone says he hopes it doesn't come to the floor. i just tell you, this was a bipartisan agreement not to bring it until we can try to work these things out. we were all trying to figure out how to get this done, and when it comes to medicare, remember, we're talking about people making $40,000 a month -- a month -- paying $135 more -- $135 a month more. o we can fully fund children's insurance for children. yield to the conference chair

, mrs. mcmorris rodgers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: chip provides health care coverage for some nine million children, more than a million in washington state. we all need to remember how important this program is for the health of some of the most vulnerable. some states, like mine, are expecting to run out of chip funding soon. so it's crucial that we move forward now. this bill also re-authorizes the teaching health center graduate medical education programming, providing funding two years with a robust increase. these are not only -- this not only preserves current programs like the spokane teaching health center, but also provides funding for new programs in communities that need them. this bill makes a real difference to those who need health care, and i encourage my colleagues to support it. and i yield.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. the gentleman from oregon reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, it's the ultimate absurdity for my colleague, the chairman of the energy and commerce committee, to suggest somehow i control when a bill comes to the floor of the house of representatives. the only reason that the republicans ever delayed bringing this vote to the floor is because they know and i know that if this bill is partisan it will never become law. it will go to the senate and it will sit there and the only way it will become law is if it's a bipartisan effort that actually accomplishes something and gets most people to support it. we can keep listening to the other side say, oh, the democrats delayed the vote. the democrats delayed the vote. the vote shouldn't be held today. the vote should be delayed today because this is going nowhere. this bill is going nowhere. they know it. want to keep saying it, you can say it all day for the neck

hour, but -- for the next hour but it's the ultimate absurdity. i yield to mr. green who is the ranking member of our health subcommittee, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. green: thank you, mr. speaker. and i thank my ranking member for yielding to me. i rise to oppose this bill. i got elected to congress to expand access for health care. i'm not a doctor, i'm not a nurse but as members of congress, we can do as much damage as someone who isn't a doctor or nurse by legislation that we see today. while i strongly support expanding the children's health insurance program, federally qualified health clinics, advancing our other bipartisan health care programs, this legislation includes offsets that undermine access to cover these services. again, my goal in congress was expand health care, and this bill restricts that access. 2/3 of medicare dollars go to

children, medicaid. if you cut medicaid you're cutting those children. and this bill cuts children from medicaid and it gives money to the children who are less poor on chip. we need both programs. we don't need one or the other. both -- chip provides health insurance to almost nine million lower income children by providing high quality, preventative care to more than 25 million americans. congress let funding for these programs expire last month. first time in our history that fhc's and chip program were not bipartisan. that's the step this congress is not making or this house is by doing this. it should be bipartisan because it's always been bipartisan. unfortunately, instead of bipartisan negotiations looking for a compromise, the process was derailed. the bill cuts medicaid 2/3 to

help poor children and limit their access. the prevention fund, prevention funds for centers for disease control. we have any number of future illnesses that we need the c.d.c. to have the ability to fight that. and here we're cutting vaccinations in our communities. we're cutting infectious disease detection and prevention. i urge my colleagues to vote no and let's expand access and not restrict it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. walden: thank you, mr. speaker. i would point out there's about 50,000 kids that mr. green may be voting against today in the houston area if this goes down and we can't get this over to the senate and work it out with them. twice he's voted to cut the prevention fund and use it for other purposes. i now recognize the gentleman from new jersey, mr. lance, for a minute and a half. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. lance: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of this legislation. this package is the product of our work on the energy and commerce committee under the

leadership of chairman walden. this legislation accomplishes the very important goals of re-authorizing the children's health insurance program. renewing funding for community health centers and extending critical resources for medicaid in puerto rico. one of the first votes i cast in congress was for chip, creating a fiscally responsible health program that now serves 8.5 million children in the united states. and i continue to support community health centers and the work they do in areas like dover and sommerville, new jersey, in the district i serve. we also cannot forget about the many families and children in puerto rico who also benefit from the medicaid program. that's why i am teamed up with resident commissioner gonzalez clon to make sure low -- gonzalez-colon to make sure low cost medical care is available for children in puerto rico. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oregon -- mr. walden: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: i yield to the gentleman from new york a minute and a half. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. engel: we're talking about programs that provide health care for millions of american children and serve some of our country's most vulnerable citizens. yet, my republican colleagues have inexplicably taken these programs hostage, tucking into this bill new attempts to undermine medicare, sabotage the a.c.a. and strip hardworking americans of their health insurance. not to mention they're trying to extort these harmful policy changes a month after they let chip and community health center funding expire. this is absolutely unconscionable because make no mistake, these cuts will hurt the same americans that depend on chip and community health centers.

my democratic colleagues and i care deeply about these programs. that's why we have sounded the alarm for months, not just yesterday, for months and urged the majority to stop wasting time on a.c.a. repeal and get to work on renewing these lifelines for american families. i'm disappointed that didn't happen and i'm disappointed by what's happening now. i urge my colleagues to vote no, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. walden: now yield to the gentleman from texas, mr. olson, very important member of our committee, a minute and a half. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. olson: i thank the chairman. mr. speaker, i rise today to strongly encourage my colleagues to support the healthy kids act. there are many reasons to support this bill but most importantly it extends the children's health insurance program, chip, until 2022. chip ensures that children too

low for medicaid get basic health insurance. 400,000 children in texas rely on chip for quality health care services. we must act now. hurricane javy left a path of destruction across texas and put a may are jor strain on our communities and resources that has resulted in moments of uncertainty. the bottom line is we must act now. this bill responseably provides children with the proper resources to live a healthy life without adding to our country's deficit. again, i strongly urge my colleagues to act now. vote for this bill. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: i yield a minute and a half to the ranking member of our oversight

subcommittee, the gentlewoman from colorado. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from colorado is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. ms. degette: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, as one of the authors of the original bill 20 years ago, i rise to express deep disappointment that the house has not been able to reach a bipartisan agreement -- bipartisan agreement on how to fund the extension of chip. the september 30 deadline has long passed. now nine million children and families are waiting anxiously for us to figure it out. my home state of colorado is likely to run out of chip funding in january with termination notices going out to worried families in the next few weeks. yet, here we are with a partisan bill that asks us to pay for low-income children's insurance on the backs of seniors and the most vulnerable. the bill also cuts the affordable care act, which could result in 668,000 people enrolled in a.c.a. plans losing their health insurance.

nobody should have to lose coverage in order for others to keep it. this is a false choice, and it's out of step with what the american people have been calling on us to do. only the 115th congress could find a way to make the chip bill partisan. i urge -- irrespective what happens today on this vote, i urge my colleagues to get together across the aisle, across the capitol, find a way to re-authorize this important bill in a way that doesn't cut benefits for other people. let's truly give kids these benefits that they need, and let's move on with our business. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. walden: thank you, mr. speaker. i now like to recognize the gentleman from florida, mr. bilirakis, an incredible advocate for children and health care in america, for a minute and a half. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. bilirakis: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman. i am so proud to serve on this

committee under your great leadership. mr. speaker, i rise in support of this important bill which incorporates my bill, the community care act, which re-authorizes funding for community health centers for the next two years. community health centers have been a proven track record of providing high-quality, cost efficient health care to approximately 25 million americans, including seven million children, and 300,000 veterans. each year there are over 100 million coordinated and integrated patient visits through the 1,400 community health centers across the country. this bill will re-authorize chip for the next five years. this program is vital for the refly 360,000 children -- roughly 360,000 children on chip in florida alone. it includes the chip buy-in programs such as the one we have in program. this sets the rules of the road and will ensure that 12,000 children in florida's chip

buy-in program will continue to have access to chip. mr. speaker, let's get this done now for our children. i urge passage of this important piece of legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. schakowsky. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized for a minute and a half. ms. schakowsky: mr. speaker, the truth is that republicans are holding children's health insurance, nine million kisdz, and the community health center program, 15 million people,s who tanl. to -- hostage. to wreak even more havoc on our health care system and make children and seniors sicker and undercut medicare. paying for children's health insurance on the backs of seniors is simply a disgrace. this bill would increase medicare part d and part b income-related premiums,

changing higher income -- charging higher income seniors the entire cost. this is a structural attack on medicare. and that's why the aarp, which supports the children's health insurance program, opposes this bill. imposing 100% premium is unfair because these seniors already pay more. and it will drive many out of medicare altogether, undermining its solvency. to make matters worse, the republican income threshold is not based on current income, but on a two-year period. so, for example, seniors' income is volatile and if you sold your home, you could get a massive premium penalty. even if you use the money you got from selling your home to buy into an assisted living and that money wasn't available. income-related premiums are simply unnecessary. there are many other ways to pay for the chip program without using medicare as an a.t.m. democrats have offered

reasonable alternatives but republicans opposed all of them. i urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from oregon voids. mr. walden: i thank the speaker. before you will call on my next colleague, i want to point out that in ms. schakowsky's district, all we're talking about here is seniors making $41,000 a month, a month, would pay an extra $135. so we can fully fund children's health insurance, community health centers, all these programs in here are funded. we use the prevention fund, which is not allocated out in the out years, it's just a postmoney you can use for prevention and wellness, we use that to fund this as well. this is why we've been unable to reach agreement with the democrats. it's sad they've made this partisan. now we go to the gentleman, mr. bucshon, for a minute and a half. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is

recognized for a minute and a half. bukebuke -- mr. bucshon: -- mr. walden: i now go to my friend from california for a minute. mr. costello: thank you, mr. speaker -- mr. costello: thank you, mr. speaker. -- mr. costa: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in favor of the people of the san joaquin valley. the people i represent did not send me here to put the lives of children at risk. i made a commitment to improve access to health care for families that i have the honor to represent here in the house. i will continue to meet that commitment. the question is, will congress do the same? and extend the children's health insurance program? my congressional district has perhaps the largest percentage of children that qualify for the children's health insurance program in the entire country. coverage is vital to families throughout my district, but it's particularly important to communities like planada and

others where these health care clinics provide such important valuable health care to these children and their families. approximately 71% of the children in my district receive their medical coverage through the combination of children's health insurance program and medicaid. we cannot let this end. this bill is not perfect. to be sure. but these children cannot be put at risk with further delays in funding for the important programs that this bill extends. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to the vice ranking member of our committee, the gentlewoman from florida, ms. castor. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized for two minutes. ms. castor: i thank the ranking member. colleagues, for decades now in america, we've worked together to make sure that kids can see a doctor and get the care that they need. working with pediatricians, families and advocates back home, we've reached an historic

point where almost all kids across the country have health insurance coverage. the children's health insurance program or chip, or known in florida as florida kid care health request kids, has been an important piece of this historic coverage level. chip simply is vital for families, millions of hardworking families, so that their kids can get the checkups, the immunizations, sometimes the critical care that they need. so they can be healthy and well. now, i chair the bipartisan children's health care cawculls. we educate and advocate -- caucus. we educate and advocate so kids across america are healthy and well. so it is especially disappointing this year that my republican colleagues failed to act before chip expired. see, they were consumed all year long with ripping health coverage away, decimating the affordable care act, and radically changing health services provided under medicaid. in doing so, they let our kids

down. they let our families down. and then at the 11th hour, after the program expired, they come up with a very partisan bill, rather than the bipartisan bill that has been the historic backbone of children's health insurance. don't take it from me. a lot of the advocates across the country, like pediatricians, obstetricians, gynecologists, march of dimes, say, please don't fund chip based upon harmful cuts. don't have cuts negatively impact the health of women, children and families. pediatricians say, don't jeopardize other important child health policies in the process. let's go back to the drawing board as soon as possible. over the weekend, next week, bring it back to the floor next week so that families and kids get the care that they need. this bill today, unfortunately, is simply a delay. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. walden: thank you, mr. speaker. there they go again.

delay, delay, delay. and vote against kids and vote against their hospitals, vote against their doctors. that's why we couldn't get agreement. i now recognize the gentleman from indiana, mr. bucshon, for a minute and a half. mr. bucshon: the gentleman is recognized for -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. bucshon: i rise in strong support of the championing healthy kid act, which extends schip for another five years. in 1997 congress created schip in partnership with the states to meet the health care needs of lower income kids. last year nearly 100,000 hoosier kids received health insurance thanks to this critical program. i am proud that this legislation will continue to protect vulnerable children in the eighth district of indiana. this bill also extends two years of funding for federally qualified health centers. family to family health information centers and other important public health programs. this funding provides an important health care service,

resources and information for families in the eighth district and across america. i urge my colleagues to support passage of the championing healthy kid act, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from vermont, mr. welch. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. welch: thank you. mr. chairman, i'm speaking to my chairman, i accept your commitment and your leadership on ensuring children -- insuring children. but i'm speaking to you because i reject the argument that in order to fund the health insurance program that all of us support, we have to compromise health programs that benefit many other people, including in vermont. let me just give an example. the prevention program in vermont, mr. chairman, is really

helping people stay well. we had $922,000 that was spent on immunization programs for our kids. we had $377,000 for lead poisoning prevention. lead poisoning is brutal. we had $372,000 for heart disease prevention and control. and we had over $209,000 for diabetes and prevention control. so i acknowledge your commitment. i only have a minute and a half. i'm sorry. i acknowledge the urgency with which your side and our side supports chip. but why is it that if we support it, we don't pay for it and instead of paying for it directly, coming up with ways to eliminate waste in the health care system, we take away our ability to immunize, to prevent lead poisoning, to reduce heart disease. that's my question.

mr. walden: if you'd yield i'd be happy to answer. mr. welch: the answer for me would be that we go to where the waste is. i yield back. mr. pallone: do you want an additional 30 seconds? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. walden: would you yield? mr. welch: i'll give you 10 seconds at the end. the answer to me would be that our committee engages in addressing the waste and health care -- in health care, including high prescription drug costs, rather than take it out of good programs. i yield the balance of my time. mr. walden: i appreciate the gentleman's sincerity. we work well together on a lot of issues. you've also voted to use this prevention fund for other purposes in the past. as have i. we don't touch the prevention fund for 2018. and there's $400 million left in 2019 and billions thereafter for the very important programs you articulated. we don't use all the money. we leave money behind. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont's time h.s.a. has expired -- time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i yield myself such

time as i may consume. mr. speaker, the bottom line, is when you start cutting money from the prevention fund, you are cutting prevention program for kids, adults, the dsabled and, most important lirks oprah:ats. c.d.c. spends a significant amount of money from the prevention fund dealing with the opiate crisis. so don't tell me that somehow this is ok. you're taking money away from opiate prevention, you're taking money away from kids programs like lead poisoning and vaccines. it is unbelievable how much is actually going to be lost from the prevention fund because of this bill. i'm not interested in what happened in the past. i want to know what's going to happen in the future. we have an opiate crisis. don't take money away from the prevention fund which is used to deal with that crisis. i yield now -- i reserve the balance of my time. mr. walden: thank you, mr. speaker. i do think it's important to note that my friend and he is my friend from new jersey is has twice voted to use this prevention fund for other purposes, including the 2012 middle class tax cut.

with that, i'd recognize the gentleman from texas, mr. barton, for a minute and a half. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. barton: i thank my chairman and would ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. barton: mr. chairman, we've talked a lot today on the floor about the children's component of this bill. the schip. it's a good program. it covers about 45% of the low-income children in texas. it's a very worthwhile program. and needs to be re-authorized and funded. i also want to talk about the ommunity health centers. in enis, texas, there's a hope clinic annex. the joe batter family foundation purchased a building for the hope clinic, which is a federally funded health center that's primarily located in

waxahachie, texas. every day several dozen low-income people go to the nell barton hope clinic. over the course of the year, several thousand people go to the hope clinic in both ennis and waxahachie. this bill funds -- re-authorizes those health centers for two years. my friends on the democratic side, i'm not sure what they're complaining about. this is a program that funds health care for children and for low-income people through the community health centers. it is fully offset. and funding is increasing, mr. speaker. not decreasing. but it's doing so in a way that it's offset. what's the big offset? the big -- well. i hope we vote for this bill when it comes up for a vote later today. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized.

mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i just wanted to talk about this use of the prevention fund. democrats have never supported the type of drastic cuts to the prevention fund that's in thi proposal today. in fact, when faced with such cuts, we vote nod nine times. in the two cases where we voted in favor of using some of the prevention fund as an offset, neither cut placed c.d.c. programs and efforts at risk as this legislation does today. the republican proposal would cut the prevention fund nearly in half and leave a $400 million hole in funding for prevention and health programs and within c.d.c.'s budget, beginning in 2019. this cut would be devastating to local, state and federal efforts to protect the nation's health. and unlike my republican counterparts, what they contend, this cut to these programs would not be made up in the annual appropriations process, as evidenced by the proposed cut of $198 million to c.d.c. in the house republican fiscal year

2018 appropriations bill. and the decrease of $580 million when adjusted for inflation. you talk about opiatse, you talk about children's health programs. these would be drastically cut because of what they're doing today to the prevention fund. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. walden: before i yield to the gentleman from michigan, i want to point out when democrats voted for the no class tax cut we used $3.6 billion out of the prevention fund they say they haven't touched and now they have. now i yield to the gentleman from michigan, mr. walberg. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for main and a half. mr. walberg: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 3922. i want to thank chairman walden and dr. burgess for their leadership in bringing this bill to the floor today. the championing healthy kids

act re-authorizes a number of programs important to my constituents including the children's health insurance program, community health centers and the teaching health center graduate medical education program. h.r. 3922 will continue the chip program for five years, allowing the successful federal-state partnership to provide health coverage for low income children and pregnant women. it also extends funding to federally qualified health centers for two years. a key component to the health care safety net, and helps address our increasing health provider shortages by investing in the education, training of future health professionals. of importance, this legislation is fully paid for with responsible policies, such as measures to allow states to disenroll lottery winners from medicaid and prioritize the most vulnerable. i'm proud of the good work that was done by the energy and commerce committee to advance this legislation to the floor, and i encourage my colleagues

to vote yes on the bill and to ensure the programs are available for the people who depend upon them. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oregon reservs. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. ms. matsui: i rise in opposition to this bill. the community health clinics -- each day, it's a new threat. most of the year has been trumpcare's severe cuts to medicaid which health centers and their patients rely upon. today, it's a lack of extension of the critical grant funding. tomorrow or the next week we'll be back to ripping medicaid away to pay for the republicans' tax cuts. we've always extended chip and community health center funding on a bipartisan basis, but unfortunately the bill before us today is not bipartisan. the prevention fund, which will be slashed in this bill, funds

programs that are critical to children and families, rely upon chip and community health centers. many times these programs are even run out of our community health centers and could not exist without the prevention fund. these are things like childhood asthma prevention, vaccines. it often takes someone going above and beyond a simple doctor's visit to provide families with the resources they need to stay healthy, and we need to invest in these services. we cannot strip this funding from critical prevention programs that children and families rely on, and we cannot allow programs like medicare and medicaid to be attacked and raided. i urge my colleagues to vote no on h.r. 3922, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired yields back. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. walden: i thank the gentleman. once again, my dear friend from california twice voted to use these prevention funds for other things. by the way, when we use them

for community health centers, they are doing this work on the ground helping people with opioid addictions and other health care issues. i now recognize the gentleman from georgia, mr. carter, for a minute and a half. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. carter: well, i thank the airman for yielding and for his outstanding leadership on this very important committee. mr. speaker, i rise today to implore my colleagues to put politics aside, to put politics aside for the sake of the 232 children in my state of georgia and the 8.9 million children across our nation who are counting on us to re-authorize chip. 12 states will run out of chip funding before the end of this year so the idea of waiting around another two months is simply unacceptable. let's be clear why we are here today. instead of having this discussion two months ago, we had to delay the energy and

commerce markup, the healthy kids act, the chip bill because the other side of the aisle refused to even consider reasonable offsets to pay for the program. so i ask my colleagues on the other sidof the aisle, how was that objection related to fighting for the middle class? even president obama supported the change for high-income beneficiaries in his annual budget. how are we supposed to look parents in the eye back home and tell them that wehoose politic instead of choosing to relieve their concerns about coverage? mr. speaker, let's do our job and let's re-authorize chip, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: i yield, mr. speaker, a minute and a half to the gentleman from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recnized for a mite and a half. >> well, i think the ranking member. mr. mcnerney: mr. speaker, it's

critical we re-authorize chip. slashing public health funding is not the way to do it. treatment of chronic diseases that accounts for 75% of our nation's health care spending and many of these diseases can be prevented. unfortunately, h.r. 3922 does not do that at all. this bill cuts in half the a.c.a. prevention and public health fund that plays a criticalole in preventing and treating chronic diseases, including keeping kids healthy. the massive cuts to this funding will be devastating to my central valley of california district. my district has the largest number of tuesday besh low ciscases for children under 5 years old. children in this age group will develop life thatening forms of t.b. since their immune is less mature. they are releague on the funding from the prevention fund to address t.b. outbreaks. it's troubling that republicans are using chip re-authorization

to take poor public health services away from kids. it's also frustrate bug not surprising the reblicans are making another attempt to sabotage the affordable care act. this legislation is robbing paul to pay peter, and i urge my colleagues to votegainst it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlemafrom new jersey reserves. the gentlan from oregon is recognized. mr. walden: well, tk you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. sabotaging the affordable care act. what we're doing is putting off planned ts to our hospitals that take care of low-income people. those cuts called for under the affordable care act, we're putting those off so they can serve these low-income people. that is sabotaging the affordable care act. on the issue of using the prevention fund, my fend from california who just spoke has twice voted tose the prevention fund, including for tax cuts in 2012, and for the 21st century cures last year.

now we're using it for community health centers and children's health insurance program. is is an appropriate use of the fund to get replenishedy law every year. with that i recognize the gentlelady from puerto rico whose constituents has suffed such damage, such destruction a result of the hurricanes, jenniffer gonzalez-colon. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. miss gonzalez-colon: iise in support of the healthy kids act. i wanto begi by first thanking chairman walden and dr. burgess for their leadership in moving forward this critically needed legislation. i am particularly thankful for those ithe leadership d all my colleagues in the energy and commerce committee for including $1 billion allocation to temporari address puerto rio's impending obamacare-created medical cliff while also providing another year of the disproportionate shared hospital relief.

to put things in perspective, when w rived in congress this year, more than one million puerto ricansere facing the possibility of losing their healtcare coverage due to a funng shortfall resulting from the medicare application to the island. e moved quickly during the bill and they allocate $295 million to improve that situation. in this bill, we are allocating $1 billion for puerto rico mediid program, and this is an important step, but stille need to secure a permanent solution for erto rico long standing medicaid inequalities. and tha means changing. with that i yield back the balance of my te. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. spear.

i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from new york, ms. velazquez. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for a minute and a half. ms. velazquez: thank you. i want to thank theanking member for yielding. mr. speaker, as puerto rico struggles to recover from the historic damage of huicane maria, this legislation shortchanges the island's long strugglinghealth care syem. at exactly the time that puerto rico most needs ouhelp. some gislation provides of puerto rico's medicaid system. even before hurricane maria made lawful, speaker ryan committed to help puerto rico's looming medicaid crisis. this bill provides just $1 billion. we havno assance or guantee that the next emergency supplemental will provide appropriate funds to address this problem. the fact is our fellow citizens has been shochangeby the

disparity in micaid funding. this forced the government of puerto rico to borrow money to provide health care. so if you wonder where puerto rico's financial crisis stems from, you look right here at the u.s. congress. yet, the amount included in this bill is far from sufficient to address even this year's shortfalls. for t puerto rican people who have already suffered smuch, this funding level aunts to an insult. if ever there we a time to channel aid to the island health care system and fix the systemicroble that rult in the system -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. mr. pallone: i give the gentlelady another 30 seconds. ms. velazquez: that results in thesystem underfunding, this is it. theris a litany of reasons to opposing this, but let's make

it clear. one of them is it will not do enough for the people puerto rico. these are u.s. citizens. th have fought, shed blood and died in ery mor conflic now, they need our help and this bill doenot suly it. reject th bil vote no. i yield back. the peaker pro temre: the gentlelay is rognized. the gentleman from new jersey reserves e gentlemanrooregon is recognized. mr. waldenmr.peaker, i yield myself such ti as i may consume. ho cynical, how cynical what we just heard how cynical. twi ms. lazquez has voted well, no, ms. velauez has 43,000 in chip $43 health nters and she's going to -- 43 health centers and she's ing t vote against $1 billion for citizens in puerto rico and theirgin islands because it's not enough.

so your anser is to vote no today and deny $1illion. i yield to -- thepeaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolin isecognized for how many minutes? one minu. >> mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 3922, and you know, listening t my democratic friends, it's said right by chairmanalden, it's cynical and it's amazing they can vote ainst this bill. not only does ts bill -authorize public health programs vital to americans wh need them most, but it does so in a fiscally respoible manner. re-authori chip for a five-year period s an imrtant priority of chdren's health re provers imy district. but doing so while saving billions is a impressive feat. on top of that, providing funding for community health center will drascally improve rur health in south carolina's fifth distct. this bill is proof that the american peope can trust their

gornment to provide essential services to citizens who cannot provide fhemselves. . norman: and without saling our children and grandchildren with debt. mr. speaker, i'd like to commend my colleague, chairman waldenor his impreive effortin striving toward greater government. i yield back. the peaker pro tempore: the gentlan from south carolina elds back. the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentman fr new jersey is recognized mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and half to the gentleman from massachusetts, a member of our committee, mr. kennedy. the speaker pro tempore: the getleman from massachutts is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. kennedy: thank yo mr. speaker. mr. speaker, this moment a bit hard to stomach. it's hard to stomach yet another attempt to sabotage the affodable care t and inhe wor of our colleagues, extolling it, resulting hudreds thousands opeople losing their health insurance. it's rd to stomach $1 trillion tax cuteing proposed to benefit wealthy adults at

th same time our republican colleagues are tellings we can't afford to take care of our sick kids. it's hard to stomach overhe lapsed and panic set in chip miliewhose lis benefit from this program. it's hard to stomach to give them care is tomehow take it away from soone else, scapegoating patients w stggle to afford their monthly premiums and sometimes fall behind. why is it always those paents who are asked to sacrifice? is always thoe commties that are asked to do more wit less. why would we somehow create a false choce on this floor today that leads nine million milies f an impossible cice tomoow. forhose familiar lice, chip is n a line im in the budget. it's a lifelne and the desee the same decency, urgency that our republicans showed thwealthy in their tax plan yesterday. i yield back. thepeaker pro tempore: the geleman from oregon.

mr. walden: thank you, mr. speaker. yield myelf such time as i may consume. the speakepro tepore:he gentlen is recognized. mr. lden:e're fly funding chip for five yearswe're taking care of progrs r our citizens that have diabetes. and theay-fothat they' objecting to most we're asking the wealthiest seniors in america,hose making $40,000 a month, to pay $135ore for their medicarso we can do th work that's so important. how ronic, how cynical. this is a y-for that's been used befe for other programs. presidt obama himself suggested in a budget that nstead of theop earners, e $480,000 a year, a couple making over $800,000 a year, pay le more here, take it dow today 80,000 ye. we justaid, iu're mi $48000 a year roughly, $40,000

moh, you'll pay $135 more. they will not vote fohat cut to fund children'sealth re. weill. th what's gng on here. this is where we could never get them offead center to make this bipartisan. itis a tragedy this is not a bipartan bill as it always has been. i three times delayed moving this fward, incling ossing th deadne to september 30. try toind comm groun that would be bipartisan a we couldever get there. beuse they would never yield in a way where we can find comm ground. so weust go to the senate for from here and get the work do for the american people. i reserve the balance of m tie. the speer pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. thgentleman from new jersey is recognized. mrpallone: mr. speaker, yield minute and half to the gentwoman from michigan, mrs. ding thspeaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from michigan is recognized for 1/2inutes. mrs. dingell: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong positi to this legislati because it prevents -- presents us with a choicthat we sh not have toake. i take a back see the to nobody

this institution in terms of fighting for children and milies. we ive inhe unitestates of america. the greatest nation in th rld. and i reject the notion we have to rob peter to pay paul. or in this instance, jeopardize the future ofedicare and steal $6 billion from critial prevention programso pay for children's health care. they are all equal priorities. and we shouldn't have to sacrifice the health of one polation to y for another. it's that simple. the changes that the bill makes to medire may sound innocuous. and i have great respect forhe cha but the reali is they will means-tesng social security i. a gd sound bite. but it's a very slpery spe. i'm notorried about whether ether wealthy families can able to afford for increase medicare premiums. but i'm worried that these

changes will result iwealthy peoe abandoning the program in large numbers. weuld -- wch would would worsen the risk pool and mately increase the costs for middle and wer income seniors. andt would fraure comletely the uversal nature of micare and put the entire m at risk. it's an unwise proposal that should beejected. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the genelady's timhas expired. reserves. an from new rsey the gentleman from oregon. mr. walden: meerks could iet a time -- mr. speaker, could i get a time count on how much each side has? the speaker pro temre: the gentlemafrom oregon has 45 seconds the gentleman fm new jersey has 4 1 minutes. . walden: i'll reserve. the speer proempore: the gentleman reserthe balance of his time. eentleman from new jersey. the g from new jersey. mr. palle: m speaker, i d one minute to th gentlemafrom texas, mr. doggett. the speaker p tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. doggett: the cldren's

health insurance pgram began asa trul bipartisan initiative, b nowt is being overwhelmed by republican indifference. soow is it on their priority is that theleft t -- let e law expire. three tates have alrdy required emergency funding. and 400,000 texas children a at risk if this program ll not be contied. in the face of this crisis, tir response is, we won't put another new dolr into this progm unless we take from medice benefiaries why should e begin a process where we call on those who rely on medire to pay for nonmicare purposes? it's wron and the second y they propose to fu this bill is byeducing c health prevention. whether it is zikand west nile viru where i live down texas, or it's the opioid crisis which is affecting state lie everother one surewe're glad to hear

presint trumdo a tweet and give a speech. but he did notdd any new dollars to fight thispioid crisis. we need ld actioand it's not by reducing te funds, it's by supporting our chifrpblt e eaker prtempor the geleman'time has eired. the genem fronew jersey reserve mr. lden: just point o,r. chairmai yield myself, that the gentleman just ske has voted touthe prevention fund fore o use ifoother purposes. time. rve the balce of my of his time.rs thbalance the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: mr. spe, i yield one minute to the gentlewoman from miigan, mrs. lawrence. th speaker pro tempore: the gentleladyrom miigan is recognized for one minute. mrs. lawrence: mr. speaker, i rise tod to supportng, fuy funding the chip act, but opposd to the republican bill. because the rection in the grace period, we areorcing americans to go into their o pockets. although this bill ll re-ahorizcp, itails to show comssion f the

loincome famili and children who do not have access to and it is a matter of life and death. ch impact is overwhelmingly felt in communities of color. together chip and medicaid help 54% of of hisc and all black children natnwide. members of congress, we hae a ty to protectur nation's children. we need to support the millio of families who ly on this vital program. this is not the right w. we nee to work togethern bipartisan way to -- in atter to pass an importanpiece of legition like chipnd not ta away om our childre but support them. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore:he

>> he'll attend the economic cooperation