THE WHITE HOUSE



                     Office of the Press Secretary

                            (Paris, France)

________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                                      June 16, 1999





                       STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT





    I am pleased that today a bipartisan group of Senators, led by

Senators Chafee and McCain and including Senators Graham, Mack,

Moynihan, and Jeffords, have taken an important step in ensuring health

care coverage for children by introducing the "Immigrant Children's

Health Improvement Act of 1999."



     When I signed the 1996 welfare reform law, I pledged to work toward

reversing the unnecessary cuts in benefits to legal immigrants that had

nothing to do with the goal of moving people from welfare to work.  As

part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and the Agricultural Research

Act of 1998, my Administration worked with Congress to restore vital

health, nutritional, and disability benefits to hundreds of thousands of

vulnerable legal immigrants.  Recognizing that more needs to be done, my

budget includes a $1.3 billion proposal to restore health care benefits

to children and pregnant women, nutritional assistance to elderly

individuals, and disability and health assistance to legal immigrants

who become disabled after they arrive in the United States.



     The proposal introduced today, which is similar to the one in my

budget, would provide health care coverage for over 55,000 children,

allowing states to use Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance

Program (CHIP) for pregnant women and children who are legal immigrants,

regardless of when they came to the U.S.  I look forward to working with

Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to enact this legislation

to help many children lead healthier and more productive lives.







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