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(October 18, 2007) Representative Gillibrand's Statement on the House Failing to Override the President's Veto |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, local Congresswoman Kirsten
Gillibrand issued the following statement regarding the House of
Representatives falling 13 votes short of the necessary two-thirds
majority needed to override the President's veto of the Children's
Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 [H.R. 976], which
would provide health insurance to 10 million children:
"I am extremely disappointed that this Administration and a handful
of my colleagues have stubbornly blocked this bipartisan agreement to
bring affordable healthcare to the children of working families.
Children's health care should not be a partisan issue; all children
deserve to have access to affordable, high-quality health care.
"There
are 9 million uninsured children in America, including 350,000 New York
children. Even though I believe this is the best bill for America's
children, I will continue to work with Democrats and Republicans in the
Congress to craft a bipartisan bill that will expand SCHIP to cover the
millions of uninsured American children."
H.R. 976 is
endorsed by a coalition of 270 groups, including the private insurance
industry, the American Medical Association and the AARP.
Earlier
this year, Congresswoman Gillibrand held a town hall forum on Child
Health Plus in Brunswick to discuss the importance of the program and
Congress' effort to expand the program and heard directly from parents,
nurses and children about how important this program is to them.
Some provisions of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 included:
* Provides $35 billion in new funding for SCHIP over the next five years
* Reduces the number of uninsured children by four million
* Improves benefits for children enrolled in SCHIP, including providing dental coverage and mental health benefits
* Provides funding to states to improve outreach efforts in order to find eligible, but uninsured children and get them enrolled
* Establishes
a quality child health initiative to develop and implement quality
measures and improve state reporting of quality data
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