January 26, 2009

Washington, DC – Nevada Senator Harry Reid today made the following statement regarding testimony that the state budget may leave as many as 40,000 low-income children without health care:

"This news simply underscores our glaring need to reauthorize the children's health insurance program. Nevada Check Up is a lifeline to struggling families throughout our state, one of the most vital programs provided by our government. Since 2007, I've been working as hard as I can to reauthorize the children's health insurance program, and although President Bush vetoed children's coverage, we are working to pass this reauthorization with our new President.

"I also have been working to bring economic relief to our state as part of a national economic recovery package that could help alleviate some of the pressure on our state budget. We are working to include hundreds of millions of dollars to protect state health programs like Medicaid as part of that bill. Nevada's children cannot be left to fend for themselves, and I'm determined not to let it happen."

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