http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2005_05_27.htmlJohn Kerry Joins Head Start Leaders In Pushing for Children’s Health Care
Kids First Bill Would Provide 11 Million Children With Health Insurance
For Immediate Release
Orlando, FL - Today, Senator John Kerry spoke to the National Head Start Association at its 32nd Annual Training Conference in Orlando.
In his remarks, Kerry praised Head Start and called on the Bush Administration to stop slashing funding for the forty-year-old successful program. Kerry also discussed what he called an equally important fight - covering the 11 million children around the country who lack health insurance.
Kerry’s plan, the Kids First Act, relieves states of the growing costs of health care by having the federal government assume Medicaid costs for children under the age of 21 whose families live below the poverty line. In exchange, the states would provide coverage to children of those families who are below 300 percent of poverty. Kerry said the plan was a "win-win for both uninsured children and overburdened states."
More than 600,000 Americans have signed on as "citizen cosponsors" in support of Kids First at johnkerry.com and nearly 20,000 people across the country have called into Kerry’s "Give Voices to Our Values" phone hotline to record their powerful, personal stories. The bill has also been endorsed by national non-profit organizations representing more than 17 million Americans.
Kerry has traveled the country in the last 4 months, hearing firsthand from Americans who lack health care coverage for their children, talking with them about how his Kids First legislation can help and how they can get involved to hold their leaders accountable on children’s health care issues.
The complete text of Kerry’s speech to the National Head Start Association as prepared for delivery follows:
“Our government has a simple task: recognize our nation’s real problems, and address them in a manner that reflects the priorities of the American people. It sounds simple, but it’s not happening today, and I know you’re as frustrated with Washington as I am.
“I understand it’s frustrating for all of you to turn on CNN and see nothing but partisan bickering about rules and Senate procedures. You watch Congress pass a budget that doesn’t come close to accounting for all the dollars we plans to spend. You hear false claims about Social Security bankrupting in 2020 when numerous education programs are struggling to survive right now in 2005. You know the real crisis is that our children are being robbed of their god-given opportunities – but Washington just doesn’t seem to focus or respond.
“It would be hard to blame you for having trouble taking much of what is said in Washington seriously. You heard about the Medicare actuary who was forced to fudge the numbers and lie to Congress to keep his job. You heard the falsified numbers in Iraq on everything from the cost of the war to the number of trained Iraqi troops to a slam dunk case for weapons of mass destruction. You heard about the administration sponsored fake newscasts to mislead people all across America. You know, it’s one thing to watch Jon Stewart; it’s another to use your tax dollars and try to imitate him.
“In recent months alone we have witnessed as disturbing a course of events as I have ever seen in Washington. Lines are being crossed that should never be crossed:
“The line that says a leader in the House of Representatives should never carelessly threaten or intimidate federal judges. The line that says the Leader of the Senate should never accuse those who disagree with his political tactics of waging a war against people of faith. The line that says respect for core constitutional principles should never be undermined by a political party’s quest for power. Most important of all, the line that says a political party’s leaders should never let their thirst for power overshadow the needs and interests of those who elected them – the American people.
“You and I know that with Head Start being underfunded, and 11 million children living without health insurance, our children are the ones being overshadowed. We know that parents’ top priority is to provide opportunity for their children. But open your eyes and look at what’s happening in Congress and you’re quickly reminded that the people who run Washington have lost touch with the mainstream values and priorities of the American people. Real problems that keep America families up at night fall by the wayside in Washington.
“It’s time we make it clear that we’re not willing to lay down and put this narrow, stubborn agenda ahead of our families, ahead of our Constitution, and ahead of our values. We must at long last begin restoring what the American people want and haven’t had for far too long – a Washington that works for them.
“That starts by working for our children. And I’ll tell you, few things make me more angry than some out of touch Washington politician saying that Head Start doesn’t work. That’s a flat out lie and it’s disrespectful to you and the tens of thousands of Americans who make this program work for children every single day.
“I know Head Start is working for Massachusetts. I want to read you something one of my constituents wrote: ‘My son was accepted into Head Start when he was four. At the time, I was a single mother on welfare. His father was incarcerated. I can honestly say that Head Start helped me just as much as they helped my son. Head Start got my son ready for kindergarten in many ways, but most important were the screenings. My son had always been a little slower than my other children when learning to tie his shoes, hold a pencil, anything that had to do with his hands. I didn't think anything of it, thinking that children all develop at different paces. As part of their routine screenings, the staff at Head Start discovered that Andrew’s muscle development was delayed and he needed physical therapy and speech therapy. They arranged for him to have physical therapy and speech therapy for free and gave me things I could do with him at home. Because of Head Start’s screening, Andrew received uninterrupted services from age four and on. Andrew is now finishing the sixth grade and has passed the test to get into Boston Latin Academy, an invitation only exam school.’ And I’ll tell you something, Boston Latin is about as good as it gets, and that young man is undoubtedly going to make this nation a better place.
“I want you to imagine for a second you were president or in Congress. If you heard countless stories like the one I just told you, wouldn’t you say: ‘Let’s do everything we can to help this program grow?’ If you saw Head Start bringing parents, teachers, children, and charitable groups together, creating communities of shared responsibility that help our kids succeed, wouldn’t you say: ‘Let’s make resources available so Head Start workers can get the training they need to do even better?’ If you saw the hard data and realized that Head Start kids were doing healthier on tests at school and the doctor’s office, wouldn’t you say: ‘Let’s make this program available to every child who needs it?’
“Sounds like common sense, doesn’t it? Well, the administration’s new budget projections could kick 120,000 children out of Head Start by 2010. The administration is telling Head Start teachers they have get advanced degrees, but provides no funding. The administration wants to convert Head Start to a block grant, but won’t admit this will threaten the health component that is so critical to Head Start’s success. There is absolutely no reason and no excuse to do any of this. There can never be any excuse for sacrificing our children’s futures to keep corporate tax loopholes and tax giveaways to millionaires. If we can’t put our children first, who can we put first? If we can’t put our kids first, what does it say about our nation? If we still want America to be the land of opportunity, we have to work together to keep this administration from destroying opportunity for so many children, and that starts with supporting Head Start.
“I came here today to do three things. First, to thank you for all your hard work. Second, to pledge to fight with you every day in Washington to defend Head Start against anyone who tries to underfund you or spread mistruths about your program not working. Third, I need your help with an equally important fight.
“You have seen the importance of keeping our kids healthy. It’s not a coincidence that Head Start kids do so much better in school. Head Start kids are 8 percent more likely to have proper immunizations and 58 percent more likely to have proper screenings for health and development. Kids with health insurance do 68 percent better in measures of school performance. Sometimes the improvement is due to simple diagnosis of a learning disability. Other times, while illnesses don’t directly affect school performance, countless missed school days are just too difficult to overcome.
“That’s why I’m fighting for Kids First legislation that would insure each and every one of the 11 million uninsured children in America today. Now let me ask you: in an era when politicians like to use the word values, isn’t this the right values choice? Isn’t it time for us to stand up, challenge politicians in Washington, and expose who only talks about values and who really values families?
“I talk to family physicians all the time, and they tell me about minor cases of asthma and innocent ear and eye problems that develop into permanent, chronic impairments in children who for too long had no care at all. We’re the richest and greatest nation on earth, yet one in four kids is not immunized, and one in three kids with asthma suffer without the medicine they need. Is that acceptable?
“My Kids First plan focuses on three main areas: expanding coverage, eliminating enrollment barriers, and sharing responsibility with parents to get all children insured. This is a balanced and responsible approach, but the same naysayers who undermine Head Start are going to attack Kids First. They’re going to claim this is a huge tax hike and a huge new bureaucracy. It’s just not true. We can insure every child by strengthening SCHIP and Medicaid in a new partnership with the states. Under my plan, the federal government pays for all Medicaid outreach and coverage costs for children under age 21 with family incomes below poverty. In exchange, the states agree to cover children under age 21 with income below 300 percent of poverty. And guess what – it’s in the states’ economic interest to participate. States will save more than $10 billion every year under this arrangement. It’s a win-win for uninsured children and overburdened state budgets.
“Not only is this the right choice for short term state budgeting, it’s a smart choice for our healthcare system in the long-run. Covering all kids would reduce avoidable hospitalizations by 22 percent and replace expensive critical care with inexpensive preventative care. Fighting for kids’ healthcare is a battle worth fighting, and like with Head Start you think it’s just common sense, but oh no.
“Leadership in Washington makes a very different choice and fights against kids healthcare. Our budget gives a tax cut for millionaires – that’s right, people making over $1 million per year – that will cost over $32 billion next year alone. The administration chooses not to provide healthcare for every child, even though that $32 billion could insure every single uninsured child. And they tell us it’s a tough choice that must be made because of a phony crisis, when the corporate tax loopholes are still on the books, and the administration uses tax dollars to produce fake newscasts. What kind of a values choice is that?
“You also hear a lot of politicians talking about how religion should affect our nation’s policies. Well, I went back and re-read the New Testament to make sure I didn’t miss anything – and nowhere in Jesus’ ministry does he say we need to sacrifice kids health care so millionaires can have tax cuts and people can put Social Security on the stock market.
“So realistically, I’m sure you’re wondering: how do I change all this? How do I make a difference in the face of injustice, deception and untruth? Well, you took a big step when you lent your endorsement to my Kids First bill. You can’t imagine how much credibility that lends, and I can’t thank you enough. But you and I know that an endorsement alone is not enough. This may sound corny, but you’re not the first group of first generation to face significant challenges. Women wouldn’t have gained the right to vote if they hadn’t fought for it. No one gave blacks civil rights out of the goodness of their hearts – they demanded it.
“Not to wax nostalgic about the 1970’s, but back then people got upset when they saw injustice. They got tired of seeing our air, land and water polluted. They were shocked when the Cuyahoga River in Ohio was polluted so badly it caught fire. And on one great day 20 million Americans marched all across this land. Politicians had no choice but to take notice. Eventually 12 congressmen were labeled the Dirty Dozen, and soon after seven of those dozen congressmen who voted against common sense were kicked out of office by the voters. The floodgates were opened. We got the Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act, Marine Mammal Protection, Clean Drinking Water, and Coastal Zone Management. We created the EPA. The quality of life in America improved because 20 million concerned citizens made their issues matter in elections.
“Look, you have a choice: either the politicians can talk about these issues among themselves and do nothing, or you can talk about these issues and make them do something about it. The politicians can hear from special interests on these issues, or from you on these issues. When you see Washington consistently turning a blind eye to suffering, don’t sit back and apathetically blame indifference. The loudest voices may be delivering the worst messages today, but history shows that grass-roots energy has the power to change anything when that energy is focused toward justice.
“The good news is we have the momentum. We’re getting the attention of the people who control Washington by organizing from community to community. We asked our three million person community at johnkerry.com to help, and it worked. Over 600,000 Americans signed on as citizen co-sponsors. Over 20,000 parents called in to record messages imploring members of Congress to support this bill. I’ve traveled all across America holding town meetings, from Miami to Minneapolis to Baton Rouge to Seattle to Atlanta. People are excited and ready to work, and they need your help. When you leave today, call your Congressman and demand that he co-sponsor this bill. Start a letter writing campaign. Get your friends and neighbors involved. Do whatever you can to make Washington pay attention to America’s children.
“You may not realize it, but you, as educators, have special place in our society. You are the custodians of our nation’s future. You are trusted and respected by all Americans. You have already taken responsibility for educating our children – a responsibility greater than most will ever know. But the place you have earned as special citizens gives you the power to make special contributions. Never forget that power. Lend your voice to this fight, and together we can save Head Start, provide healthcare for every child, and finally do what the American people want – put our kids first!”
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