|
Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, gave the following statement on the House floor this morning during debate to override President Bush's veto of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007.
"Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act passed the House and the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support. The bill also has overwhelming support with the American public.
"The President’s veto of the CHIP bill was a slap in the face not only to this Congress, but to the millions of children who, without this bill, will continue to be uninsured or worse, lose the insurance they currently have.
"The President is deluding himself if he doesn’t think his veto will hurt millions of children. And those members voting to sustain the President’s veto are just as guilty of turning their backs on the millions of children who will be denied regular visits to see the doctor.
"What we sent to the President was a reasonable, bipartisan bill that would cover 4 million previously uninsured, low-income children, many of whom are in working families. Through our bill, a total of ten million children would have the peace of mind that health insurance provides. The vast majority of these children are the very lowest income children, who have no other options for care.
"The president claims this bill covers 'rich' kids. But that simply is not true. Even Senator Hatch, who helped write this bill, noted, 'about 92 percent of the kids will be under 200 percent of the poverty level.'
"The president has also said that this bill opens the door for government-sponsored health care because it encourages families to drop their private coverage and switch to CHIP coverage for their children. But we know from studies done not only by the Congressional Budget Office, but by the Administration itself, that this simply isn’t going to happen at the rate the President claims. He can try to rationalize this any way he wants, but he is simply wrong.
"I urge my Republican colleagues today to vote with their conscience, instead of with a misguided loyalty to a President who is out of touch with America’s families. This is not a debate about private versus public. It’s not about Republican or Democrat. It’s about right and wrong. Providing American children with the health care they need to grow up healthy and strong is the right thing to do for our country."
|
