Democrats Vow to Insist on Covering 10 Million Children
October 18th, 2007 by Jesse LeeAfter House Republicans sustained President Bush’s veto of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007, Democrats vowed to insist on insuring the full 10 million children covered by this bill.
Speaker Pelosi explained the importance in closing debate:
| Speaker Pelosi: “I wish you could have heard the stories of some of the parents who told us — Bethany’s parents who were in the other day, the press asked them if they were afraid their family would come under attack because they were lobbying for SCHIP? They said, ‘We are already are under attack, but we are proud to come forward to support this initiative. We are not proud of the fact that we are low-income,’ they said. ‘We are trying very hard to lift ourselves up higher into the middle class. We work very hard not to be on Medicaid but to be among the working poor. It’s not something we brag about but SCHIP is something that we need. So when the President wants to have four or five million children instead of 10 million children in this initiative, is he the one, the ‘Decider,’ who wants to go to that family and say, ‘your child is out’?” |
Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel made the following statement after the vote:
“Today, House Republicans offered a number of arguments before they turned their backs on the 10 million children from working families who are waiting for health care and whose families earn a paycheck, not a welfare check. Republicans told us today they care about the poor — but I’m reminded they voted to cut $7 billion dollars from Medicaid. Republicans told us today they are concerned about spending — but I’m reminded they were willing to spend $680 billion in Iraq, no questions asked. And Republicans told us today they are concerned about government-funded health care — but I’m reminded they accept that same health care for their own children. If it’s good enough for their kids, it ought to be good enough for America’s kids. In the coming days, Democrats will not back down and we will insist on providing health care coverage to these 10 million children.”