{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/releases?ContentRecord_id=2C1B4431-2689-4EEA-8229-132645B41ABF", "Hatch Highlights Legislative Victories for Kids and Families", "2018-10-23", "2018", "2018-10", "Republican", "House", "UT", "Orrin Hatch", "H000338", "www.hatch.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Utah Leaders, National Health Advocates gather tocelebrateHistoricCHIP,Family First, MIECHV Victories\r\nWASHINGTON, DCSenate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) today hosted several Utah and national leaders to celebrate thelongest extensionof Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in program history,the passageof the Family First Prevention Services Act and the reauthorization of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV), all legislation focused on helping children and families.\r\n\r\nClick Here to See More Photos: Hatch Hosts Leaders to Celebrate Efforts to Benefit Children and Families\r\nDuring my service, I've worked hard to find bipartisan solutions to problems facing children and families. Throughout the difficult political and policy conversations we had on CHIP, I pushed hard for a 10 year extension of the program. I am so pleased that we made that a reality. Providing certainty to kids and families through CHIP is one of areas I am most proud to have worked on over the past 42 years, and it remains a bipartisan model of policy success.\r\n\r\n\r\nYou've done so much to show us that there are leaders who care for us.\r\n-Natalie Clark, 20-year-old Utahn, beneficiary of the Family First Prevention Services Act\r\n\r\n\r\nWe appreciate your heart for this nation's children, and we just want to say thank you.\r\n-William C. Bell, President and CEO of Casey Family Programs\r\n\r\n\r\nSenator Hatch has always been an advocate for children.\r\n-Katy Welkie, CEO of Primary Children's Hospital\r\n\r\nBackground\r\nHatchcreatedthe Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) with former Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) more than two decades ago. The program, which bridges the gap for families who don't qualify for programs like Medicaid but still cannot afford private insurance, issuccessfuland financially responsible, and continues to receive bipartisan support.\r\nEarlier this year, Congress enacted a six-yearCHIP extension the longest in the program's history  based in large part on a bipartisan agreement Hatch struck with Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). The Bipartisan BudgetAct (BBA)added four more years of CHIP funding, ensuring that the program is funded through FY2027.\r\nHatch also successfully negotiated the inclusion of two other Finance Committee products in the BBA, theFamily First Prevention Services Actand theStrong Families Act of 2017.\r\nTheFamily First Prevention Services Actwill help keep more children safely with their families instead of placing them in foster care. This legislation supports states in providing evidence-based services to prevent children from entering foster care, encourages states to place children with foster families instead of in group homes, and reduces bureaucracy for and provides help to relatives so more children can live with family if they must be removed from their homes. Hatch introduced theFamily First Prevention Services Actin June 2016, along with Wyden and committee members Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).\r\nTheStrong Families Act of 2017wasintroducedby Finance Committee Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and cosponsored by many members of the Committee. This bill funds the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program through FY2022 and provides states with grants to support evidence-based home visiting programs for at-risk families, particularly women and children. This proposal received strong bipartisan support.\r\nSenator Hatch's full remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:\r\nI want to thank all of you for being here today to recognize some of the important things we've achieved this year. You have all worked together with me to pass major legislation helping kids and families. I may get a lot of the credit, but you all did a lot of the work. During my service, I've worked hard to find bipartisan solutions to problems facing children and families. Throughout the difficult political and policy conversations we had on CHIP, I pushed hard for a 10 year extension of the program.\r\nI am so pleased that we made that a reality. Providing certainty to kids and families through CHIP is one of areas I am most proud to have worked on over the past 42 years, and it remains a bipartisan model of policy success.\r\nI'm also proud that the Family First Prevention Services Act became law this year, a bill I introduced with Senator Wyden. Too many kids end up in foster care because their families don't have the help they need, and now states will have more tools to help families in crisis so they can safely stay together.\r\nWe also renewed a key home visiting program that helps parents with young children. And instead of telling states and local governments what to do, they get to choose the program that works for themas long as there's evidence it works. I'm so glad we have this opportunity to reflect on these achievements, and I'm grateful to be with you so we can celebrate these achievements together.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/releases?ContentRecord_id=2C1B4431-2689-4EEA-8229-132645B41ABF"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8922379929572344, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}