Supporting the goals and ideals of Children's Health Month.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my good friend and colleague, Mrs. Capps from California, for yielding the time, and thank her for her ongoing efforts and advocacy on behalf of the health of America's children and all Americans all across this country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 760, supporting the goals and ideals of Children's Health Month. As cochair of the Congressional Children's Health Care Caucus, I am pleased to offer this resolution along with my colleague from the other side of the aisle, Mr. Reichert of Washington, who is the cochair of the caucus.

This has been an important year for work on children's health issues. As grandparents and parents and teachers and doctors and nurses and all community members understand, our work on behalf of children's health is constant, notwithstanding the fact that we are going to recognize a certain month here today.

We are working on behalf of children's health in so many collaborative ways, and we want to encourage more. We are encouraging families and schools to focus on healthy living habits and healthy nutrition for children. We are working to combat childhood obesity and to promote exercise and physical activity. We are continuing our concerted efforts to keep our children and teens from smoking. We are working to educate families and raise medical awareness about critical childhood illnesses such as asthma and diabetes. And, so many across this country are working to help parents and other families sign their kids up for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, and those activities must continue.

But our concerns are not limited only to the physical health of our children, but also to their mental health and their behavioral health. I note just today that two new studies were released relating to early childhood behavior. We have got to remain at the cutting edge, and we have got to continue to encourage our talented researchers in my home State in Florida, Mrs. Capps' State of California, and all across the country to continue their work.

In addition, all too often our children are victims of abuse and neglect and do not receive the special care required to meet their health care needs and their mental health care needs. Here in the Congress, we are working to ensure that these disparities are eliminated and that our children receive all the support that they need. We would like our neighbors back home to know that we care about their families and the well-being of their children, and we will continue to draw attention to these issues and work hard to amend these problems.

Mr. Speaker, today as we acknowledge Children's Health Month and the importance of its meaning, we remind our neighbors and this body of the special attention needed for children's health. We salute the parents, pediatricians, nurses, and all community members that work every day to care for our kids, for their physical and mental well-being. We commend those institutions that have honored the goals of this special month, and we acknowledge the importance of supporting America's children by reinforcing our sincere dedication to providing access to health care for our kids, ensuring preventative care, seeking cures for debilitating diseases and chronic conditions, and promoting healthy lifestyles for America's children.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 760) supporting the goals and ideals of Children's Health Month, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of House Resolution 760 which supports the goals and ideals of Children's Health Month. I commend my colleagues, Kathy Castor of Florida and Dave Reichert of Washington, for introducing this important resolution. A school nurse myself for 20 or more years, I can't emphasize enough the importance of reaffirming a stronger commitment to provide better access to health care for children.

We absolutely must take greater steps in providing preventive care, promoting healthy habits, and finding cures to chronic conditions that are becoming more prevalent in our Nation's children.

Perhaps one of the greatest steps we can take is to finally reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Programs. As this resolution notes, one of the greatest contributors to unhealthy outcomes in our children is a lack of access to care. Our Children's Health Insurance Program would provide health care access to an additional 4 million children who are eligible but not now covered. This bill was supported by 265 House Members and 64 Senators. I hope we will soon see this bill signed into law. Though we know there are other steps we must also take, this is the primary one.

There are steps in addition to this legislation that we can take. When one in five children in the United States are overweight, 5 million children are affected by asthma, and 50 million children suffer from allergies, we know we must take steps to improve healthy environments as well as healthy habits. With this resolution, we applaud the efforts of the many families, communities, health care professionals, and others in our communities, and officials as well, who are taking these steps already; and we encourage in this resolution that States be proactive in promoting healthy living habits to children so that they can lead healthy lives as adults.

Most importantly, perhaps, this resolution reminds us of what our priorities in this Congress should be. Undoubtedly, our children should be number one. I commend this resolution for reaffirming that.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor).

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to urge adoption of this resolution which goes to the heart of a major priority that we have in this Congress, which is to support our children's health. This is for the sake of our children, of course, but it is also on behalf of their families, the most important people in their lives, on behalf of our communities. And really, in truth, it is about our future, because, after all, our children are our future, and a healthy future is that much better for all of us.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 760, which recognizes October as Children's Health Month and supports the goals and ideals of this annual designation.

I was proud to introduce this resolution with Representative Kathy Castor. As cochairmen of the Congressional Children's Health Care Caucus, we are committed to building bipartisan support for efforts to facilitate access to care for the uninsured, seek cures for debilitating diseases and chronic conditions, and promote preventive health and wellness measures for America's children.

This resolution recognizes the importance of raising awareness of children's health needs and commends the health care professionals who provide for them. It also reaffirms our Nation's commitment to improving children's health and encourages State officials, non-profit organizations and businesses to join the House in supporting these objectives.

I am grateful for the enthusiastic backing this resolution enjoys from more than 100 Members spanning both sides of the aisle, and I urge all of my colleagues to support its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

I want to again thank Chairman Dingell, Ranking Member Barton, and certainly Lois Capps for her leadership on this issue. I again rise in support of H. Res. 760, a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of Children's Health Month.

The overarching goal of designating October each year as Children's Health Month is to draw attention to the need to provide access to health care, insuring preventative care, seek cures for diseases and chronic conditions, and promote healthy living habits for all of America's children.

There has been much discussion recently both on the floor and in the media about children's health care. The objective, obviously, to cover the health needs of children is of paramount concern, particularly with low-income children. Children's Health Month should remind us of that important message. I stand in support, and ask that my colleagues support the resolution as well.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.