CHIP

NDN Praises U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller for Offering Amendment to Help Legal Immigrant Children

NDN's ROSENBERG PRAISES ROCKEFELLER CHIP AMENDMENT TO HELP CHILDREN OF LEGAL IMMIGRANTS, SAYS IT'S A SIGN THAT PROGRESS CAN BE MADE THIS YEAR ON FIXING BROKEN IMMIGRATION SYSTEM 

NDN President Simon Rosenberg today applauded U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller for offering a successful amendment that will give states the option of providing health insurance to children of legal immigrants through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Rockefeller offered the amendment during the Senate Finance Committee's consideration yesterday of a bill to expand the overall CHIP program.   

Rosenberg also praised Committee Chairman Max Baucus and other Finance Committee members who voted in favor of the amendment.

"For those interested in fixing our broken immigration system, the sensible resolution by the Senate Finance Committee yesterday is a welcome sign and a clear signal that progress can be made this year. For the last three years, the arguments of a few, deeply out of touch with popular sentiment, have held the immigration debate hostage, preventing progress on what Americans consider to be one of our most important national priorities."

Rosenberg continued, "In poll after poll, Americans rank fixing our broken immigration as one of their top priorities. Few blame the immigrants themselves. Most believe that any serious effort to fix the broken immigration system must include the offering of legal status and a path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants already here. The American people understand that leaving five percent of our workforce and their families living in the shadows, outside the protection of American law, easy prey for exploitation, with no chance to live the American Dream, is an affront to our core values, and something that cannot stand. It is for this reason that there is such a deep and intense desire in the public to fix the system now."

"The sensible resolution of this first debate in the new Congress over how to best treat the immigrants among us is a hopeful sign that leaders of both parties will be able to come together later this year and pass a comprehensive approach to fixing our badly broken immigration system. In the coming weeks, I urge the full Senate to pass this critical legislation," Rosenberg said.

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