[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 150 (Thursday, October 4, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12698-S12699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               SCHIP VETO

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, as I have traveled around Rhode 
Island, I have met so many families who worry about health care. Will 
their child fall ill? Will the price of prescription drugs or a visit 
to the doctor go up again?
  As health care costs skyrocket and the number of uninsured Americans 
approaches a staggering 50 million, we have a solemn obligation to make 
health care more accessible and affordable.
  This obligation is not new. For decades, our Government has treated 
it as one of the most sacred promises we keep with the American people, 
and it has been one of our best opportunities to just plain do the 
right thing. Initiatives such as Medicare and Medicaid are among our 
greatest accomplishments. The Children's Health Insurance Program is a 
shining light in the American health care system, providing health 
coverage to millions of American children whose families could not 
otherwise afford insurance.
  Since its creation in 1997, the Children's Health Insurance Program 
has given children in America's working families better access to 
medical care for common conditions such as asthma or ear infections, 
better school attendance rates, better academic achievement, better 
medical access, and more preventive care. It means that children stay 
out of expensive urgent care settings such as the emergency room. The 
Children's Health Insurance Program is among the singular health care 
success stories of our generation. That is why it has long enjoyed 
bipartisan support, including enthusiastic support from Republican 
Governors.
  My State of Rhode Island has played a vital role in creating and 
sustaining the Children's Health Insurance Program. The distinguished 
Republican Senator John Chafee, whom so many of my colleagues will 
remember, was one of the early bipartisan architects of this bill. For 
years, my senior Senator, Jack Reed, has been one of the most powerful 
advocates for this program in the Senate. I am proud to add my voice of 
support to his.
  I am proud also to represent a State with one of the lowest rates of 
uninsured children and adults in the Nation. Rhode Island has worked 
for 15 years to achieve this success, beginning with Gov. Bruce 
Sundlun's establishment of the original RIteCare Program in 1993. I was 
honored to have been part of Governor Sundlun's team.
  Similar to many State programs, RIteCare relies on this funding that 
the President vetoed--relies on it to help families pay for regular 
checkups, immunizations, prescriptions, nutrition and other services 
and to reduce the number of uninsured children in our State.
  This year, leaders on both sides of the aisle came together in the 
Senate to make this strong, vital program even stronger. The $35 
billion agreement Congress passed last week would have brought health 
care to 10 million American children over the next 5 years, including 
adding up to 6,600 currently uninsured children in Rhode Island. We 
improved the program in other ways as well, adding quality dental and 
mental health care for children and new incentives for States to enroll 
more eligible children and to improve the quality of care.
  But President Bush took all that away with the stroke of his veto 
pen. Why? Health insurance, he says, should be delivered in the private 
market. Well, guess what, Mr. President. The majority of children's 
health beneficiaries receive their coverage through private health 
plans. In fact, in 2005, all but two separate State children's health 
programs used a managed care company to provide CHIP benefits. The 
children's health plan does not threaten privatized health care; it is 
privatized health care for almost two-thirds of its enrollees. In Rhode 
Island, the Children's Health Insurance Program is delivered entirely 
through private insurers. As I have displayed here, the children's 
health program looks a lot like the health insurance the President has 
and the Senate has, and it doesn't look anything like the socialized 
medicine Republican opponents of this program have used as a red 
herring.
  By the way, as a footnote on the public versus private health 
insurance question, maybe President Bush, who claims to be a fiscal 
conservative, would be pleased to learn that the small group of 
children's health beneficiaries who actually are in public insurance 
programs, cost the Government less than those who are on private 
insurance. In fact, publicly insured children cost taxpayers 10 percent 
less than privately insured children, and publicly insured adults cost 
30 percent less than privately insured adults.
  But the President is not persuaded by these facts. It does not matter 
to him that publicly insured children have a much better chance of 
having a well child care visit than uninsured children and a much 
better chance of having a dental care visit. It does not matter that 
practical Republican Governors across the country support this bill or 
that it is one of the most bipartisan achievements of this Congress. 
All that seems to matter to this President is ideology, and in this 
case, it is a bizarre ideology that doesn't think struggling, working-
class families should have health care. In fact, he especially doesn't 
believe that struggling, working-class parents should have health care. 
He threatened to veto this bill based on that feature alone.
  As recently as last summer at a Finance Committee hearing, his own 
CMS Administrator, Mark McClellan, stated--and this is a quote from the 
Bush administration:

       Extending coverage to parents and caretaker relatives--

  Parents and caretaker relatives--

     not only serves to cover additional insured individuals, but 
     may also increase the likelihood that they will take the 
     steps necessary to enroll their children. Extending coverage 
     to parents and caretakers may also increase the likelihood 
     that their children remain enrolled in CHIP.

  Here is a copy of a letter that Administrator McClellan wrote to my 
home State of Rhode Island on January 13, 2006. It reads:

       We are pleased to inform you that your amendment to the 
     RiteCare section 1115 demonstration, as modified by the 
     special terms and conditions accompanying this award, has 
     been approved.

  It also notes that Rhode Island's request to renew its demonstration 
project has also been approved.
  And what exactly did Mark McClellan approve? Here is the next quote:

       Expenditures for expanded SCHIP eligibility to individuals 
     who, at the time of initial application, are custodial 
     parents or relative caretakers of children eligible under the 
     plan.

  Signed Dr. Mark McClellan.
  The Bush administration approved the program in Rhode Island for 
custodial parents and relative caretakers. Yet the President is 
shocked--shocked--that this program may cover some adults.
  President Bush, you authorized the coverage for these adults over and 
over, State by State, through your Cabinet Secretary overseeing this 
problem. Your argument, sir, is with yourself.
  All I can say is you were right the first time, before you took this 
shameful ideological U-turn.
  Setting aside reason, setting aside the security and peace of mind of 
countless working-class families, driven by ideology, President Bush 
lifted his veto pen for only the fourth time in his Presidency and 
struck down the Children's Health Insurance Program. His reason this 
week: Because it costs too much.
  In other words, the same administration that in 1 year, in 2008, will 
spend $70 billion to pay for the Bush tax cuts for the top 1 percent of 
income earners, thinks it is too much to spend half that much over 5 
years to provide billions of American children affordable health care. 
Said another way, the annual cost of Bush tax cuts for the superrich is 
10 times the annual cost of this bill for children's health care, and 
he says he vetoes it over its cost.
  The same administration is spending more than $10 billion each month 
in Iraq, with no plan for ending the war and bringing our troops home, 
an administration that is now asking for 200 billion more dollars for 
the war this coming year, refuses to spend $35 billion over the next 5 
years to provide

[[Page S12699]]

millions of children all over this country affordable health care.
  Instead, the President sought a funding level that would result in 1 
million American children losing--losing--their health insurance.
  So where would their families go to get these children health care if 
they don't have access to this insurance under the President's 
proposal? Well, before an audience in Cleveland on July 10, the 
President of the United States revealed his approach:

       People have access to health care in America--

  He said.

       After all, you just go to an emergency room.

  So that is it.
  Tax cuts for billionaires that explode our national debt and leave 
future generations on the hook to pay for it--that is a big priority 
for President Bush. Billions for Blackwater, for an endless war with no 
plan to end it, for no-bid contracts for Halliburton--that is a big 
priority for President Bush.
  But health care for children and their struggling working-class 
families, all paid for in the budget after hard-working bipartisan 
compromise? Nope. That is not a priority. That is a veto.
  And the kids? ``Send them to the emergency room,'' he says.
  I am ashamed of the President's decision. His veto was unnecessary. 
It was wrong. It is now up to Congress to make it right. I ask my 
colleagues to override the President's veto of children's health 
insurance.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I wish to commend the Senator from Rhode 
Island for voicing his concerns about the veto of the children's health 
bill that is so important to so many children, and I appreciate his 
strong statement.
  I think yesterday was a sad day for all Americans. For reasons I 
can't comprehend, President Bush yesterday decided to veto our 
bipartisan effort to invest in health care for the Nation's children. 
With no fanfare, behind closed doors, when no one was looking, the 
President put his personal politics ahead of increased investment in 
our most precious asset, our children.
  I was so proud last week when, with bipartisan support in good 
margins in both Houses of Congress, we passed the Children's Health 
Insurance Program. That bill is an example of how Government ought to 
work.
  Leaders in the House and in the Senate, both Republicans and 
Democrats, worked together to find a compromise that could work for 
everyone at the table. Nobody got everything they wanted, but the final 
product was worthy of support and pride on all sides.
  I had hoped that after seeing the tremendous work that went into this 
compromise the President would think of the kids in every State of the 
Union who needed basic health care and reconsider his position.
  I had hoped he would think about the families who are struggling to 
make ends meet and reconsider his position.
  I had hoped that in the end he would reconsider his plan to say no to 
our children and to our families. But yesterday those hopes were 
dashed.
  All children should be able to see a doctor when they are sick, and 
all children should be able to get the medicine they need to make them 
better. When a child gets a cut that requires stitches or comes down 
with a fever or an earache or with any other imaginable problem, they 
ought to be able to get help, period.
  Unfortunately, as we all know, today in America--the richest and most 
successful country ever--that is not the case. In fact, millions of 
American children do not have health insurance, which means millions of 
American kids cannot see a doctor when they are sick, and millions of 
American children don't get the medicine they need to help them get 
better.
  It doesn't matter if you are a Republican or a Democrat, whether you 
are a progressive or conservative, I believe making sure our children 
get health care is the moral thing to do.
  This veto that the President penned yesterday has real and serious 
impact on many families in my State and across the country. Because 
President Bush vetoed that bill, 3.8 million uninsured children are 
going to continue to live without coverage. Let me say that again. 
President Bush told 3.8 million children in America they cannot have 
health care. To me, that is just shameful.
  When I came to the floor a couple of weeks ago to talk about this 
important bill, I told the story of a woman in my State, Sydney DeBord, 
who lives in Yakima, WA. She is a young girl who has cystic fibrosis. 
Her mom wrote to me to tell me how important this children's health 
insurance program was to her family. She said it allowed her daughter, 
Sydney, to get and extend her life, and it allowed her to live her very 
tough life to the fullest. I want to quote again from that letter 
because I believe she speaks for those more than 3 million children and 
their families on this dark day.
  Ms. DeBord said:

       I know for a fact that without this bit of assistance her 
     life would end much sooner due to the inability to afford 
     quality health care for her. As her parent, it frightens me 
     to even think some day she may be without health care 
     coverage if programs like CHIP are no longer available.

  Today, I share Ms. DeBord's fears, and all other parents do as well.
  We have another chance. The President doesn't have the final say on 
this one. Right now, Members of the House of Representatives are 
working to find the votes to override this veto, perhaps, and hopefully 
end the fears of Ms. DeBord and millions of moms just like her. They 
need a few more votes. If they get a few more votes, we can tell the 
President that investing in families and investing in America is a 
priority of the men and women of this Congress no matter how many 
vetoes he sends our way.
  It is very troubling to me that the President continues to ignore the 
wishes of the American public. The American people and the vast 
majority of Congress want to expand stem cell research to find cures 
for diseases affecting so many in our Nation. The President says no.
  The American people and the vast majority of Congress want to change 
course in Iraq and bring our troops home safely. The President says no.
  The American people and the vast majority of Congress want investment 
in roads, bridges, medical research, and education. The President says 
no.
  The American people and the vast majority of Congress want to provide 
health care for our young children today. The President says no.
  So we need a few more Republicans to join us and to join the American 
people in telling the President he is wrong and he cannot stand in the 
way of progress for our young kids. I hope the disappointment felt by 
kids and their families today is going to be washed away in the weeks 
to come by another bipartisan show of support for this outstanding and 
critical health care program in America.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________