How well did your Members of Congress protect children last
year? The Children's Defense Fund Action Council answers this question in
our new 2007
Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard. It grades every member of the U.S.
Senate and House of Representatives on how well they voted to protect children
based on 10 key votes in each house covering a range of issues, including the
federal budget, child health, education, tax relief and minimum wage
measures.
While the 110th Congress failed to provide all children
health coverage or to override two presidential vetoes of funding for the State
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which would have provided coverage
to more than three million uninsured children, Congress did take some important
strides forward for children and families in 2007. They passed the first
increase in the minimum wage in a decade, bringing it from $5.15 to $7.25 an
hour by 2009. The minimum wage is a cornerstone of a broader strategy to reduce
child and family poverty, and approximately 6.4 million children under 18 are
expected to benefit from this modest wage increase. Congress also passed
measures providing greater access to and quality improvements in Head Start to
help more young children start school ready to succeed and additional funds for
student loans to help many more youth attend college.
Nevertheless, millions of children remain at risk, including
12.8 million children living in poverty, 5.5 million in extreme poverty; 9.4
million uninsured children, nearly 90 percent of whom
live in working families; and the 97 percent of infants and toddlers who are
eligible for the Early Head Start Program but are not enrolled.
The Children's Defense Fund Action Council's top priority in
2007 was comprehensive health coverage for every pregnant woman and for every
child--not one-third, one-fourth or one-half of all children--but every child.
We believe that the lives of all children are of equal value and that our
Creator did not make two classes of children. We also believe it is morally--as
well as practically--indefensible for political leaders of any party to claim we
cannot afford to ensure the basic human right to health care for any child in
our rich nation that leads the world in per capita health expenditures. So as
SCHIP came up for reauthorization in 2007, the president and the Congress had
an opportunity and responsibility to finish the job that SCHIP and Medicaid
began by covering all children.
The CDF Action Council, building on the best practices in
states and lessons learned about children falling through the bureaucratic
cracks of Medicaid and SCHIP, strongly urged Congress to enact the All
Healthy Children Act, S. 1564/H.R. 1688, introduced by Representative
Bobby Scott (D-VA) in the House and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the
Senate. The measure would provide comprehensive benefits including dental and
mental health, simplified bureaucracy, and a national eligibility plan for
families up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. We thank the 62 House
co-sponsors for their support. However, we regret that neither a single House
Republican nor any other Senator joined them to push for coverage for all
children.
The CDF Action Council strongly supports long overdue health
coverage for everyone in America
as soon as possible--because children cannot wait. As SCHIP comes up
again for reauthorization in early 2009, we hope every Member of Congress will
insist on covering every child and pregnant mother now by enacting and
adequately funding the provisions of the All Healthy Children Act.
Specious claims that we could not find the money--$70 billion over five years--to
cover all children is belied by that amount spent in eleven months for tax cuts
for the top one percent of richest Americans and in seven months for the Iraq
War. We do not have a money problem in America: We have a priorities and
political will deficit. It is time for all adults to protect the health of our
children. The citizens of the nation must demand that our leaders free our
children from the false ideological and political tugs of war among those who
put excess profits ahead of children's lives.
How well did Congress protect children in 2007? Not well
enough: 276 Members of Congress had good CDF Action Council Congressional
Scorecard scores of 80 percent or higher, and 198 of those had stellar scores
of 100 percent. But 231 members scored 60 percent or lower--a failing grade from
our school days.
Whether Members of Congress are liberal, conservative or
moderate; Democrat, Republican or Independent, children need all of them
to vote, lobby, speak for and protect them. Adults need to listen carefully to
what candidates say they will do for children and families and, once they are
in office, we need to hold them accountable. Please thank your Members of
Congress with scores of 80 percent or above and let those with scores of 60
percent or below know you are dissatisfied with their performance. And please
convey that same message to each presidential candidate. We must demand that
our leaders commit to children as a condition of our vote.
To access our interactive online Scorecard and see how your
Members voted, visit the CDF Action Council website at here.
Posted March 3, 2008 | 10:36 AM (EST)