U.S. Senator Ken Salazar Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees 2300 15^th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
For Immediate Release September 21, 2007		CONTACT:Stephanie Valencia – 202-228-3630 Cody Wertz 303-350-0032
Sen. Salazar Statement on House-Senate Compromise on Children’s Health Insurance Program WASHINGTON, DC- Today, United States Senator Ken Salazar issued the following statement after news that a bipartisan coalition of House and Senate leaders have come to an agreement to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for an additional five years. CHIP provides health coverage to American children whose parents do not qualify for Medicaid, but cannot afford private insurance. “This is a critical breakthrough to provide coverage to millions of children who would otherwise go uninsured,” said Senator Salazar. “This bipartisan compromise puts our Nation’s children first and in a fiscally responsible way. I hope that the President will reconsider his priorities and his veto threat and sign this bill that will give millions of uninsured children access to health care.” The $35 billion agreement struck by House and Senate negotiators will bring health coverage to approximately ten million children in need – preserving coverage for all 6.6 million children currently covered by CHIP, and reaching millions more low-income, uninsured American children in the next five years. ###