Joined by representatives of Catholic Charities USA and the Catholic Health Association, President Barack Obama signed into law Feb. 4 legislation reauthorizing and expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP.

Obama called the $32.8 billion bill --- one of the first signed during his presidency --- "only a first step" and a "down payment on my commitment to cover every single American."

Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, who attended the signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House, praised Congress and Obama "for acting so swiftly on this vital law."

"Without SCHIP, vulnerable children of low-income families would not receive the care they need to be strong and healthy citizens and productive individuals in our society," he added in a statement.

Kathleen Curran, CHA's senior director for public policy, represented CHA at the signing ceremony.

The legislation continues coverage through 2013 for 7 million children whose families make too much for them to be eligible for Medicaid; expands coverage for another 4.1 million uninsured children; and makes legal immigrant children and pregnant women eligible for the program without the previously mandated five-year waiting period.

The federal side of the program will be funded primarily with an increase in the excise tax on tobacco, with the tax on cigarettes going from 62 cents to $1.01 a pack.

Catholic Charities, CHA and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have been longtime advocates of expanding SCHIP and including legal immigrant children and pregnant women without a waiting period.

"Improving access to health care for low-income children has been a major priority in Catholic Charities USA's efforts to reduce poverty in America," said Father Snyder.

Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is CHA president and CEO, said the SCHIP legislation was "a victory for children as well as the Catholic health ministry's advocacy efforts to provide sufficient resources to preserve SCHIP and restore funding for legal immigrants."

Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, had encouraged the inclusion of legal immigrants in a January letter to members of the Senate.

"During the immigration debate we heard much about how legal immigrants came 'the right way' and enrich and contribute to our economy and society," Bishop Murphy said. "Restoration of health coverage access to legal immigrants is the right thing to do, and has been supported by members of Congress from both parties."

In remarks at the signing ceremony, Obama said 8 million U.S. children remain without health insurance, along with an estimated 37 million adults.

"It is hard to overstate the toll this has taken on our families: the sleepless nights worrying that someone's going to get hurt, or praying that a sick child gets better on her own," he said. "The decisions that no parent should ever have to make --- how long to put off that doctor's appointment, knowing that all it takes is one accident, one injury, to send your family into financial ruin."

A few hours before the signing, a Catholic mother of three spoke in a teleconference about her reliance on Florida's SCHIP plan, called KidCare, to treat her son's heart condition and her daughter's asthma.

"It was a lifesaver for me," said Nilda Santana, a member of Good Shepherd Church in Orlando, Fla., who said she was unable to afford health insurance through her employer.

After having been rejected once for the KidCare program, Santana worked with local and state officials to simplify the application process and enroll more children in the health plan.

She said she was proud that her church, a member of the interfaith PICO National Network, had been active in raising community awareness about KidCare and in lobbying state officials to improve the program.

---CNS