Throughout his career, Al Gore has fought to ensure that children and families have access to quality health care.

In Congress, he co-sponsored legislation to improve nutrition standards for infant formula and advocated for an agreement that strengthened warning labels on cigarette packages. As vice president, Gore fought for the largest investment in children's health care since 1965 -- providing health coverage to millions of children whose parents make too much money for Medicaid but not enough to afford private health insurance. In 1998, Gore announced an initiative that encourages states to partner school lunch programs with efforts to educate low-income families about health insurance possibilities.

"At a time of almost unimaginable medical breakthroughs, it's unacceptable that millions of parents worry themselves sick over how to pay the bill every time their kids get sick. I want to get all children covered, but my opponent doesn't," said Gore. "He has very different priorities. He prefers a massive tax cut for the wealthiest of the wealthy, and I believe his record in Texas gives us an important window onto those priorities."

Attempting to cover up his poor health care record in Texas, George W. Bush has repeatedly claimed that Texas spends "$4.7 billion a year on the uninsured in the state of Texas." Today's New York Times shows that Bush has not been telling the truth. The Times reported that George W. Bush "exaggerated state spending on health care for uninsured people in Texas, taking credit for large amounts of charity care provided by private doctors and hospitals."

"This story reveals that George W. Bush misled the American people and exploited the charitable works of others for his own selfish political benefit. During the presidential debate, Bush covered up his own failed leadership on health care by claiming credit for money given by charitable groups and others," said Mark Fabiani, Deputy Campaign Manager for Communications. "George Bush ought to be ashamed of himself for misleading people and for trying to cover up his failed leadership in this way. Bush was looking for political cover because of his misplaced priorities. He owes the American people an honest debate this week, not another attempt to cover up the facts of his failed leadership in Texas."

BUSH CLAIMED REPEATEDLY THAT TEXAS SPENDS $4.7 BILLION ON THE UNINSURED
Bush Repeatedly Said During Debate Texas Spent $4.7 Billion on Health Care. Three times during the October 11, 2000 Presidential debate Bush said Texas spent $4.7 billion on health care for the uninsured. In defending the fact that Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured families in the country, Bush said:
-- "...we spend $4.7 billion a year on the uninsured in the state of Texas."
-- "We spend $4.7 billion a year in the state of Texas for uninsured people and they get health care."
-- "Let me go back to Texas, for example, for a minute. We pay 4.7 billion. I can't emphasize to you how much
--I signed a bill that puts CHIPS (sic) in place." [Presidential debate, Wake Forest University, 10/11/00]

Bush Wrote Op-Ed Which Bragged About Spending Money on Uninsured. In an op-ed for USA Today entitled "I will build on my record," Bush wrote, "To help children, I signed legislation providing health insurance for more than 423,000 children. We also created a $25 million program to provide health insurance for immigrant children who are not eligible for the federal children's health program. In fact, Texas currently spends an estimated $4.7 billion in health-care, funding to the uninsured through local and state initiatives." [USA Today, 8/17/00]

Bush Touted $4.7 Billion At News Conference. During a news conference in August, Bush defended his health record by saying the state had spent $4.7 billion on health care for the uninsured. "We spend over $4.7 billion on the uninsured," Bush said. [News Tribune, 8/12/00; Associated Press, 8/12/00]

HOWEVER, THE $4.7 BILLION NUMBER IS BOGUS -- LESS THAN $1 BILLION OF THAT IS STATE MONEY --THE REST IS FEDERAL, LOCAL AND CHARITY
From the Texas State Comptroller's report on Texas spending on the uninsured, compiled for a Bush-appointed Task Force: