Mr. Speaker, we have a health care crisis in our country. In vetoing our SCHIP bill, the President has invoked a bad policy based on bad information.

· The President should know we target low-income children below 200 percent of poverty.

· The President should know we focus SCHIP on children, and phase out parents and childless adults that were allowed by his administration.

· The President should know the bill covers 4 million children who are eligible for SCHIP but not enrolled.

· The President should know the SCHIP bill does not cover undocumented children

Under the President’s proposal, 6 million of our children eligible for SCHIP would remain without health insurance.

And, an additional 700,000 children currently in the program would join them in the ranks of the uninsured.

If the President is so concerned about adults and middle income families in the SCHIP program, he should sign this bill which effectively addresses those concerns.

America’s low-income children shouldn’t suffer because the President can’t get his facts straight.

More than 8 in 10 Americans support this legislation to expand SCHIP for children.

When the White House asks Congress for a special appropriation of $190 billion for the war in Iraq, over and above hundreds of billions already spent, why can’t they find much less to cover 10 million low-income children?

This is the people’s House, and it is our duty to override this veto and listen to the American people.