[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 158 (Thursday, October 18, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H11764-H11769]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       30-SOMETHING WORKING GROUP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it's an honor to be before the 
House once again.
  As you know, the 30-something Working Group, we come to the floor 
maybe once, twice, three times, if we can, a week to not only share 
with the Members the good things that we are doing but also some things 
that we are going to have to work together on, bills that we're going 
to have to work together on on behalf of America.
  We've been able to do quite a bit this session, Mr. Speaker, and 
accomplish a lot in this first session. We have had record-breaking 
roll call votes never taken before. I think it's somewhere around 980 
votes, I mean, not even counting the votes today, that have been taken 
here in the House that have never been taken in the history of the 
Republic, since the mid-70s. I believe it was 1975 or 1974 that held 
the record for roll call votes, and this year is not over yet, and we 
still have a lot of business to conduct.
  I can't help but, Mr. Speaker, come to the floor and talk a little 
bit about what happened with the children's health care bill. I know 
just an hour ago we voted to override the President of the United 
States, and that's something that the Congress has the opportunity to 
do. The President decided to veto the children's health care bill. The 
Congress said that we would override. The Senate had the votes but the 
House, we weren't able to do it today. It wasn't because of Democratic 
Members of Congress, why we weren't able to override, and it wasn't 
because of 44 Republicans who voted with Democrats to override the 
President. It was 154 Republicans who decided to stand with the 
President and not voting for the override.
  Now, we fell 13 votes short. What does that mean? I'm not here today 
to start calling names and pointing fingers, but I'm here today to make 
sure that the Members know that the good thing about America is that 
you have the second chance to do the right thing, and the Members had a 
second chance to do the right thing and failed to do so. The 13 Members 
or so failed to do so because they voted against the original bill that 
came before us that the President vetoed, but on the override they had 
the opportunity to say the right thing, and they didn't do it.
  And within that 154 or within that 13, I just want to identify some 
of the States that will not receive health care or children's health 
care from the CHIP bill.
  In California, 1.8 million kids have been denied health care. State 
of Florida, my very State, my State that I represent, those Members 
that voted, the 13 we fell short, voted against 616,000 kids. In 
Georgia, 467,000 for those Members that voted against the SCHIP bill 
override. Illinois, 435,000; Indiana, 199,000. And I'm just using round 
numbers here, Mr. Speaker. Iowa, 72,962; Kentucky, 112,000 will be 
denied health care because Members of the other side, 13 Republicans, 
said we needed to be able to close the gap, did not vote with us today 
to override the

[[Page H11765]]

President. In Maryland, 185,000; and Ohio, 338,000. In Pennsylvania, 
312,000 will not be able to receive health care because we fell short 
of 13 votes. We did not get it from the Republican side of the aisle.
  South Carolina, 122,000 children will be denied health care. In 
Texas, 966,000 will be denied health care. In Utah, 74,000 will be 
denied health care. And in Wisconsin, 94,000 will be denied health 
care, and in Wyoming, 12,000 will be denied health care because we did 
not have the said votes we needed to have, 13 votes on the Republican 
side that we needed to override.
  Now, there were a lot of things said about the SCHIP bill, and a good 
part of the day and some 2 hours and change was devoted to both sides 
having an opportunity, Democrats and Republicans, to discuss their 
support or lack of support for overriding the President on this veto.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to kind of point out here, this picture is 
going to end up being one of my National Archives pictures when I, you 
know, relinquish them and I let them go. I kind of keep things as I 
come to the floor. There are certain charts, and as you know, Mr. 
Speaker, I do love charts and I'm glad because they illustrate not only 
for the Members but they illustrate a period of time in American 
history which now we're living in right now.
  This picture was taken when a majority of the Republican Caucus went 
down and went to the White House and stood with the President on the 
first bill that we passed to put the heat on the Iraqi Government as it 
relates to the politicians there in Iraq living up to its 
responsibilities so that our U.S. troops don't have to continue to do 
patrols in the streets of Iraq, to be able to do exactly what the 
President called for as it relates to benchmarks or timelines, that 
certain things are supposed to happen or else. We put that in 
legislation, and the Republican Conference ran down there and had a 
press conference with the President saying we're standing with the 
President.
  Well, today some of the folks in this photo here stood with the 
President, and they're within the 154 that voted against the SCHIP bill 
override. It's so unfortunate that the kids that I just called out and 
thousands and millions of other kids are going to be denied health 
care. Poor kids, they're going to be denied health care.
  We also have, Mr. Speaker, something that I think is very, very 
important. Our obligation here is to make sure the children have health 
care and that the good people of the United States of America have 
access to health care, and I'm getting more and more concerned about 
folks being more loyal to the President, more loyal to special 
interests on the minority side than, in my opinion, being loyal to some 
of the constituents that need our assistance; and I think that's very, 
very important.
  I think it's important also to note that this goes beyond politics, 
because I believe those that voted and within the 13 because I'm glad 
I'm not in that number of the 154 Republicans that voted against this 
override. They're going to have to, within that, the 13 that was needed 
to override the President decided not to, and I think that there's been 
some career decisions that have been made.
  Obviously, I mean, everyone knows that I'm a Democrat, but if I was 
an independent or I was a Republican or I was someone that was thinking 
about voting one day and taking part in this democracy of ours as it 
relates to the ballot, if a Congressman came up to me and said, guess 
what, one day I'm going to have the opportunity to vote for health care 
for poor children that go to school with your kids that live in your 
neighborhood, folks that work either in your business or people that 
work with you at work, I'm going to deny them health care, not once but 
twice, vote for me on Tuesday. There's no way in the world I know a 
Member did not give that speech and will not give that speech, but 
today walked in here, slipped the voting card in here, voted ``no'' and 
left and went home for the weekend.
  This was the close of business. It was the last vote that we took. It 
was a major vote. We took a Journal vote earlier today. There were only 
two votes, approving the Journal and voting to override the President 
of the United States on denying poor children health care. So no one 
could have gotten confused about, oh, maybe I pushed the wrong button 
or what have you.
  I just want to make sure that the Members understand that this is 
about serious business here, and I'm going to tell you the American 
people voted for a new direction. Matter of fact, this reminds me of 
the old days when we had the rubber-stamp Congress, and I want to make 
sure my staff bring the rubber stamp down from my office because we 
haven't had it down here probably only once in the 110th Congress, but 
I'm going to make sure it gets down here to the floor before I leave 
the floor because I can tell you, you can't go wrong with friends like 
that illustrated here in this picture, you can't go wrong.
  The President should feel comfortable, as far as I'm concerned should 
write a handwritten note saying thank you for sticking with me but not 
sticking with the poor children of the United States of America. Ten 
million children we're talking about insuring.
  The President says, well, you know, maybe 1 million or 2 million or 3 
million or 5 million, that's my proposal or what have you, going back 
and forth. The bottom line is without even a real discussion, without 
even a real discussion the President is willing to move forward on 
saying that we should be in Iraq forever, and I think that's a real 
issue for the people of the country. I think that's a real issue 
because when you look at article I, section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, 
I mean, the Congress has a lot to do.
  But what happens as it relates to not only the funding of the war in 
Iraq but also as it relates to policy, as we look at this issue of Iraq 
but we're having all this discussion about Iraq and then we try to do 
something domestic, major something domestic and reauthorizing a 
program that provides children's health care, and when you look at it, 
when you look at it here, Mr. Speaker, one day of funding in the war in 
Iraq costs $330 million and could insure 270,000 kids. One week in 
Iraq, one week, we're not talking about, you know, one year, we're 
talking one week, $2.3 billion insures 1.8 million kids.

                              {time}  1515

  One month in Iraq, $10 billion, that is $10 billion, that is with a 
capital B, 1.8 million kids can receive health care. And 37 days in 
Iraq, $12.2 billion spent, 10 million kids can receive coverage.
  Now, it is all right and the President is saying, why are you even 
asking the question? Why are you even questioning my wisdom for even 
saying that we should continue to fund the war in Iraq? But meanwhile, 
we are sitting back here and kids are getting the veto again.
  I think it is important for the Members to understand what is going 
on here. And I think that the reason why a lot of average Americans 
have a great level of frustration with Washington, DC is the fact that 
we can do something 10,000-plus miles away from continental United 
States for children that we will not even do for children here in the 
United States of America. Now, that is a problem.
  Now, I don't have a problem. I have been to Iraq three times. I have 
been to Afghanistan. I have been a little bit of everywhere as it 
relates to the Middle East, because that is a big concern as relates to 
our issues that we have not only diplomatically but also as it relates 
to safety and that we have to engage in dialogue. But I have a problem, 
Mr. Speaker, of what I know and what is actually happening here on this 
floor.
  Now, again, I am glad this chart is here now. When we start talking 
about having your back, I mean, the Republican conference which is a 
number, I am not going to generalize because 44 of the members of that 
conference voted with the children of America today, with Democrats, 
and overriding the President of the United States; but the majority, 
the 154 that voted against were part of the same group. Again, I am 
going back to the President. The President is not running again for 
election, but I can tell you this much; that, I can tell you that it is 
very, very important that we pay attention to the pattern that is 
taking place. Yes, we have a Democratic majority in the House, we have 
a Democratic majority in the Senate, but I

[[Page H11766]]

think it is important for us to take note of the consistent voting 
loyal to the President. This is not a loyalty contest. People weren't 
elected to be loyal to any given party. They are elected to make sure 
that their constituents and the people of America get what they need 
out of their government. And when we look at this, foreign debt doubles 
under President Bush on the $1.9 trillion in 6 years between 2001 and 
2006. Forty-two Presidents that I have here, Mr. Speaker, 42 
Presidents, 224 years, $1.01 trillion, from 1776 to the year 2000, was 
only able to borrow from foreign nations $1.01 trillion. So the 
President has already trumped, with the former rubber-stamp Republican 
Congress in the last Congress. But it is in another form now, Mr. 
Speaker. It is in the form to where you see, saying, well, we no longer 
have the majority. The American people have taken that from us. The 
American people have taken that from us. Now we are in the business of 
stopping the new direction Congress that Republicans, Independents, 
Democrats voted for a new direction because they were concerned about 
the Republican rubber-stamp Congress following the President of the 
United States, the rubber-stamp Congress that was here, following the 
President of the United States to the new Congress, now saying, well, 
we have enough votes to stop the two-thirds that is needed to override 
the President, so that is going to be our new stance, Mr. President. We 
are with you all the way.
  Well, I can tell you this much, Mr. Speaker and Members. I think it 
is important for many of those Members in the 109th Congress that 
followed the President, the Pied Piper, saying, let's go this way, 
let's vote this way, stick with me, I am going to lead you. And, guess 
what? Many of them are at home right now reading the paper about what 
is happening here in the Capitol dome because they are no longer, they 
are no longer in Congress. Now, some of them were friends, some of them 
I knew personally. That is fine. But on the policy end, they were 
following the President and found themselves unelected.
  Now, if this was a political discussion, Mr. Speaker, I would, I 
would go somewhere and I would go somewhere reading the newspaper or 
taking a break or something, or maybe reading a good book right now or 
on the plane going back down to Florida. But this is about politics. 
Because I would just allow the 154 that voted against the override to 
continue to vote like they had been voting if it was about politics, 
because the American people will make sure that they rise up come some 
given Tuesday in another year from now and vote those individuals out 
of Congress because they are voting against children's health care.
  Saying all of that, I think it is important to say where we are right 
now in not only history but in the present. If it was just politics, I 
would just go sit down, but it is not about politics. It is about 
children's health care. I must shed light on this and we must continue 
to put the pressure on. I commend the Speaker for holding her ground on 
this issue. I want the Speaker to continue to hold her ground on this 
issue because we cannot backslide on making sure that poor children 
have health care; not something that looks like health care, but 
actually has health care, so that they can be healthy and do the things 
that they have to do.
  I tell you, Mr. Speaker, as I was in my office preparing to come to 
the floor, I was just reading some of the clips. I am glad the rubber 
stamp has made it down to the floor, and I will address the rubber 
stamp, I will come back to it.
  It says on the headline of the New York Times, and this is hot off 
the press here, it says: The House Fails to Override Child Health Care 
Bill Veto. And the bottom line is is that the vote to override was 273-
156, or 13 votes short of the necessary two-thirds majority of those 
voting. The bill was originally approved about a couple weeks ago, 
September 25, 265 voting for it and 159 voting against it.
  Now, you know, one thing that this administration is not used to, Mr. 
Speaker, and some of our friends on the Republican side of the aisle 
are not used to is a bill coming to the floor already paid for. They 
are used to rubber stamping and saying, put it on the credit card for 
the next generation to pay for. I have a 10-year-old son and I have a 
12-year-old daughter, and guess what? I care about their financial 
future. I don't want them in debt. I don't want to have them to turn 
around and, Mr. Speaker, having to pay to Japan, to China, to the U.K., 
to the Caribbean, to Taiwan, to OPEC nations, to Korea, to Hong Kong, 
to Germany of money that the President and the rubber-stamp Republican 
Congress before this Congress did because all they did was say, oh, 
that is fine, you want tax cuts, special interest billionaire, 
kazillionaire. We want to go into a new stratosphere of how many 
subsidies we are going to give you. We are going to do it. And guess 
what? We are not even concerned how we are going to pay for it. We are 
going to borrow from foreign nations. We are going to put it on the 
backs of those Americans that are not even eligible to vote right now, 
those Americans that were born since I have been on the floor here that 
are going to have to pay the bill. And in a new direction Congress, 
Democratic Congress, we said we weren't going to do it, and we haven't 
done it. And here we are again. This is a new form of the Republican 
rubber-stamp minority that is standing with the President all the way.
  I am glad this rubber stamp is down here, because I spent a lot of 
time, Mr. Speaker, here on the floor with many of my colleagues. I 
think this stamp here one day will be properly placed somewhere in a 
glass case because this is what used to be. The President said, let's 
give tax breaks to super-wealthy corporations, record-breaking oil 
subsidies. Boom. No problem. Rubber stamp. It is going to happen. So 
shall it be written, so shall it be done. Those days are over.
  But now it is in a new form. We are going to stand with you when it 
comes down to overriding some of the major issues that Americans care 
about. A, this war in Iraq as it relates to the policy that we should 
be passing that so many Americans are very frustrated with, the fact 
that the Congress and the President has not been able to come through 
with policy that will eventually bring our men and women home, will 
eventually bring our combat troops home, because we will be providing 
technical assistance in the region for some time. But we are losing a 
number of our young people and our middle-aged folks that are 
reservists that have been deployed longer than any other fighting force 
in the past and we are still here going back and forth. And the reason 
why we are going back and forth is the fact that we don't have the 
necessary votes on the Republican side to be able to override the 
President. And the Senate, the procedural 60 votes that you need to 
bring certain issues are not there, because there is only a 51 majority 
Democrats there. So I think it is important, not only do we report the 
news, but we also talk about how we can do better.
  Now, I come to the floor with a clear mind and a clear heart and ask 
my colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle: We fell 13 votes 
short of providing poor children health care today. I ask, as we 
started to look at this issue again, and another vote will be coming up 
in weeks, that one goes within their soul and within their heart and 
think about voting in the affirmative so that we can pass the 
bipartisan health care opportunities for young people that we have 
done.
  Now, this was a bipartisan bill. You know, you listen to the 
President, you think, oh, the Democrats sent me a bill. Well, I guess 
the 45 Republicans that voted with us on the original bill and the 44 
that voted with us today, I guess they are Democrats, too. Or maybe 
they are just Members of Congress who say that it is their 
responsibility to make sure that poor children in their district and 
within the country have health care. Boy, that is something. And so I 
think it is very, very important that we move down and move in that 
direction.
  I will put that rubber stamp off to the side because I never want to 
see those days again, but I wanted to bring it down to the floor 
because I thought it was fitting today that we do that.
  I think it is important that we highlight the fact that there are a 
number of polls that have been out on this issue and who has said that 
Americans are in full, almost full support of expanding the children's 
health care bill.

[[Page H11767]]

Eighty-one percent in the CBS poll have said, I am for health care and 
expanding it for poor children; 81 percent, 15 opposed. And I think 
that is something to look at, and I think that is something that 
Members should pay very, very close attention to.
  I also, Mr. Speaker, I think what is important, as we started looking 
at what is to be done in the very near future, we have to look at the 
fact that we have families, we have children, we have policymakers in 
the States that are counting on a children's health care program. We 
have doctors that are concerned about the lack of health care that 
children already are experiencing here in the United States, and so 
when we started talking about reauthorization, we started talking about 
expanding to more kids, they are happy but now they are concerned. We 
have over 170 organizations that deal with children and good government 
and support, still in support, of overriding the President on the 
health care bill on the SCHIP bill that he vetoed. That is history now. 
But I think it is important that, I want to encourage those Members 
that voted for the override, I want to encourage those Members on the 
Republican side, the 44 that voted with Democrats to override the 
President, to stay encouraged. To stay encouraged, because so many 
times we know about the glory, Mr. Speaker, but we don't necessarily 
know about the story. And right now we are writing the story on 
providing health care to poor children in the United States of America. 
And I say to children of the United States of America, because you have 
some Members here that are willing to vote for kids in Iraq and other 
places that have health care but not willing to vote for our own 
children here in the United States to get health care. And I think it 
is important that as we start to build this story, there is some good 
chapters and some bad chapters. And I think the good chapters that can 
be added to this story of getting to the glory part where we are able 
to have expanded benefits for children and also expanded coverage for 
children to provide health care for the next 5 years, or as long as we 
can get it at that number, for some Members who voted to not allow 
those children to have health care to come to the side of allowing them 
to have health care.

                              {time}  1530

  Voting in the affirmative for children's health care, now maybe the 
vote would have been a little different if this was 2008 and their 
constituents were paying very close attention to every vote that their 
Congressman or Congresswoman would take here on this floor.
  But, you know, the good thing about it, some may say that, but I 
believe that the American people are paying attention to what's going 
on here. I also believe that the American spirit will rise up. I said 
that last Congress; and a lot of folks said, yeah, you know, that's 
fine. The attention span, you know, of the average person is probably 
about, you know, a week or two or what have you. When it falls off the 
screen of the Today Show and other shows, it'll just kind of drift off.
  But I can tell you this much: last Congress there were votes that 
were taken that the American people remembered. And I think it's 
important that folks understand that that will happen this time around.
  And I'm not in the business of making sure that folks no longer serve 
in Congress. That's not my piece. I'm here to represent the people of 
the 17th Congressional District and the people of the United States of 
America to the best of my ability.
  But I think that it's important because this is not politics, it's 
policy making, that those that voted against it be a part of a good 
chapter and allowing people to be able to have health care.
  I want to commend the March of Dimes, all of the affiliates 
throughout the country that wrote their Congressmen and -women to vote 
in the affirmative to override the President.
  I would like to thank those 501(c)(3) organizations. The lifeblood of 
their effort is through volunteers throughout America, and when they 
come in to volunteer for the March of Dimes, when they come in to 
volunteer for the Children's Defense Fund, I mean, all the different 
groups that are out there to do what they do on a daily basis that help 
this country be what it is today, I thank those individuals, because I 
don't want them to lose faith in the fact that we're not going to have 
their back. We're going to have their back. When I say ``we,'' those of 
us that voted to override the President today.
  I don't wake up every morning saying, hey, you know, I'm getting 
ready to go to the Capitol. We're going to override the President on a 
bill, on the children's health care bill or on making sure that we have 
sound policy in Iraq. I don't wake up on those days saying that I look 
forward to that opportunity. I don't look forward to that opportunity. 
I'd much rather us work in a bipartisan way to where we can move in 
that direction.
  Well, let's look at the bill. The SCHIP bill received, I believe, 45 
votes and the first time it came through here, that's bipartisan. 
Received, I believe, 14-plus votes in the Senate. Someone correct me if 
I'm wrong. That's bipartisan, Republican Members coming over and voting 
with Democrats to be able to move that bill through the process. That's 
bipartisan.
  It gets to the President, all of a sudden it's partisan. Democratic 
Congress sent, no, it was a bipartisan Congress that sent him a 
children's health care bill. In the Senate, Orrin Hatch, I mean, major 
Republicans are over there saying that the President's wrong and they 
had the votes, and they still do, to override the President of the 
United States. They have the votes over there.
  In the House, we had a majority of votes, beyond a simple majority. 
We went well into, fell short 13 votes because Republican, on the 
Republican side of the aisle, 154 Republicans decided to stick with the 
President and not with the poor children in the United States of 
America.
  I say all of that to say this: we would not have accomplished as much 
as we've accomplished, when I say ``we,'' the 110th Congress, if it 
wasn't for a bipartisan spirit and allowing, not only Democrats, but 
also Republicans to have bills that they should feel good about when 
they vote for those bills.
  Now, we talked about minimum wage passed on this floor. It was 
offered when we were in the minority in the last Congress, but never 
made it to the floor, never made it to a committee hearing.
  The 9/11 recommendations, 9/11 Commission, great Americans put 
together a great document. It was a book, one of the best-selling 
books. And the President said he wasn't going to sign that. In a 
bipartisan way we passed that. Sent it to the President. He had to sign 
it.
  And all of these signing opportunities, I don't call them ceremonies. 
You know, they usually kind of happen like on a Friday, you know, folks 
leaving town, about to go to Camp David, not going to make a big deal 
on his way out, just sign it into law instead of celebrating the 
bipartisan spirit we have here in the Congress and sending that 
legislation on.
  Cutting student loan interest rates in half. That meant $4,400 in the 
pockets of the individuals that have taken out the loans. And who are 
they? Children or young people that are trying to educate themselves to 
help us to be a stronger America and a more professional America so we 
can compete against other countries. It's not all about lock and load 
and shooting at someone. It's about making sure that we continue to 
stay the economic superpower of the world and to be able to provide the 
leadership in the world as it relates to a shining example of how one 
can educate him or herself and become all they want to be in the 
industry that they want to be, or provide a job to allow other 
Americans to work.
  The President said he wasn't going to sign that. Thank you to the 
American people, thank you to the Members going back, talking to their 
constituents, thank you for all of those mothers and grandparents that 
wrote and e-mailed and said this is wrong, and that we want, if you 
want, you know, there's so many times we feel that we know what to do 
best here in Washington, D.C. because we understand what you need.
  Well, guess what? $4,400 in the pockets that they don't have to pay 
on interest rates, because the student loan companies were pocketing 
those dollars. We allowed those dollars to stay in the pockets of those 
individuals paying on the interest rate on those student loans; and 
they know what's best.

[[Page H11768]]

  And guess what? I'm talking to independent voters too. I'm talking to 
Republican voters too. No one said, well, you know, based on my card, 
do I get it or not? No, not even based on your income. You get a 
student loan, you can be an individual punching in and punching out 
every day making the minimum wage, or you can be a family, a single 
parent, or you can be a two-parent household with a gross income of 
$200,000, a household income of $200,000 and you still get that $4,400. 
And I think it's important, the President said he wasn't going to do 
it; he did it.
  Now I'm asking the Members of Congress to stand in there on behalf of 
these children, not by their doing, but due to the fact that parents 
are trying to provide a way of life for them, and their only penalty is 
the fact that they can't afford health care. That's the only penalty 
that they have.
  We have children that we're sending up to the military academies who 
cannot pass the tests, not the academic tests, not the fact that they 
didn't have the GPA to go to the Air Force Academy or to be able to go 
the Citadel or what have you. It's because they couldn't pass their 
physical because they didn't know they had a situation that could have 
been corrected to where they can be one of our best and brightest 
within our military and they're not able to do it because they don't 
have what they need to have.

  The school lunch program started in World War II because kids were 
not healthy enough to be able to go into the military because they 
didn't have the very nutrients that they need to be able to function 
and grow up here in America. And that's the reason why we have that 
program today.
  So when we started looking at things in a broader picture, I think 
it's very, very, important, Members, that we pay attention to the 
present. The 109th, 108th Congress I was a Member of. Before that, my 
mother was here 10 years prior to my arrival here in Congress. I paid 
very close attention to her movements, member of the Appropriations 
Committee, spent a lot of time trying to help a lot of people here in 
the United States of America. I am glad that it was a broad perspective 
versus a small perspective of saying, well, I need to stand with a 
person, with the President of the United States because he said he 
should not have his veto overridden. And I want to thank, he has a very 
good legislative staff that comes down here and talks to the Members 
and says, you know, you need to stick with the President, stick with 
the President.
  Meanwhile, we had all these volunteers on the side of overriding the 
President, on the side of children's health care, that spent their own 
money, Mr. Speaker, to come here to Washington, D.C., walk the Halls. 
Thank God the Speaker had enough wisdom and the majority leader had 
enough wisdom to say we're going to postpone the vote to allow those 
most affected, those that can afford to come to Washington or go to the 
district office of Members of Congress and the Senate and say please 
vote on behalf of children's health care because the President's wrong.
  It's nothing wrong with being wrong sometimes, but not all the time. 
And I think it's important that when we look at this whole children's 
health care bill, I'm reading some articles about, well, you know, the 
Congress and the President, they need to sit down and come together on 
the line of compromise. And you know something? In Iraq, the President 
stands right at one point here on an issue and says this is it; this is 
what I'm going to do; this is how I'm going to do it and have enough 
Republicans to be able to stand with him so we can't be able to, well, 
if we pass a bill it will not be successful because he will veto the 
bill and it will come back here and then we'll fall 13 votes short. He 
stands firm, and then we have to end up having to work out some sort of 
compromise.
  I'm going to tell you, I hope that this story, like I said, you have 
the story and the glory of everything. I hope as we continue to write 
this story and providing children the kind of health care, poor 
children the kind of health care that they deserve, that we stand. And 
when I say ``we,'' the Democrats, the Democratic Caucus that voted to 
override the President, and the 44 Republicans that voted with us to 
give us the numbers that we needed.
  And it's not just what I'm saying. It's what the Congressional Record 
is saying. And it's what roll call vote No. 982 says. It says that 44 
Republicans and 229 Democrats voted in the affirmative, a total of 273 
versus 156 who voted against. So I think it's very, very important that 
we look at this and that Members pay attention to what's happening.
  What side of history do you want to be on? What side of opportunity 
do you want to be on? And I think that's something that the Members are 
going to have to take into strong consideration.
  I'm happy that the President signed bills that he said he wasn't 
going to sign. But it wasn't only because of our doing. It was because 
the American people mobilized and said, well, I know I am going to have 
my opportunity on a given Tuesday every other year to vote for my 
representation in Washington; but they mobilized to say that I have 
faith in this democracy and I'm going to continue to talk to Members of 
Congress of the importance of the children's health care bill.
  And I'm asking for those Americans that took that time out to come to 
Washington, D.C., called, e-mailed, wrote letters, I want to commend 
them for doing the work that they did. It was the same group, the same 
volunteerism that came up out of the ground, literally, when the 
President wanted to privatize Social Security, and a good majority of 
Republicans on that time was in the majority, rose up and said, well, 
we want to go with the President on the private accounts and 
privatizing. It was that same volunteer American spirit that stopped 
that movement.
  So we can make something good happen here on behalf of children that 
are needing health care.
  As I move into the close here, Mr. Speaker, and as I was here on the 
floor and I was listening to the Speaker close, I think that it's 
important the value of Members playing a very strong role in facts, not 
fiction. And I was proud to see, you know, there's a lot being said and 
people were saying different things. And there were some folks that 
said that, you know, on the Republican side, well, there's going to be 
funding for illegal aliens in the SCHIP bill. Well, that's not the 
case. That just wasn't the case.
  And I'm glad that the Speaker brought this chart down here, and I 
asked for this chart when I came to the floor because I thought it was 
very, very important. Section 605, page 255, right here, right here, 
and I think it's important, maybe we put it on www.speaker.gov for not 
only the Members to see this and highlight it like this. So you go down 
to line 16, section 605, no Federal funding for illegal aliens. Period. 
So as I look through the Congressional Record, Mr. Speaker, with my 
highlighter I could go through almost, when I hear from my colleagues 
on the other side of the aisle, because they had very little to hold on 
to, I mean, how do you wake up in the morning and you say, well, I'm 
waking up this morning to deny 10 million children health care. Poor, 
at that. That's what I'm waking up to do this morning.

                              {time}  1545

  Or do you say ``I'm waking up this morning to stand with the 
President on denying 10 million poor children health care''? Or do you 
say, ``Well, maybe I can come up with this one: Somebody said it and 
I'm going to continue to say it, illegal aliens are going to receive 
health care from this bill, so that's the reason why I can't vote for 
it'' when the law says that it doesn't?
  I mean, I hope that the volunteers continue to talk to the 154 
Republicans that voted against this. ``Well, families that make 
$83,000,'' that is not the case and the facts are right here. ``These 
very wealthy families are going to get a government benefit,'' that is 
not the case. And I think it's important that we continue to shed light 
on this.
  I think there should be some sort of meter here on the floor, to be 
honest with you, fact versus fiction, so that as Members come to the 
floor and they start talking and the meter starts moving over to the 
fiction side of it, then other Members will know how to judge what's 
accurate and what's not accurate. I think that would be very important 
because I think there will be

[[Page H11769]]

better policymaking and there will be fewer excuses why people didn't 
vote for certain bills.
  I am not going to say that I'm mad. I'm just saying that I am 
disappointed. But the good thing about it, 14 years in public service, 
some of those years in the State legislature in Florida, 5 of those 
years, going on 6, here in Congress, there are votes that I remember. 
And this will be one of the votes that I will remember for the rest of 
my public career as long as the people from the 17th District will have 
me here from Florida, the day that we fell 13 votes short, not because 
of the lack of effort, not because we did not have the bipartisan 
spirit blowing through the air conditioning ducts here in the Chamber, 
not because there wasn't bipartisan input in the writing of the 
legislation need it be House or Senate, but because 13 Members out of 
154 decided not to vote in affirmation.
  I think it is also important to note, Mr. Speaker, that as we leave 
and we come back here, I believe, on Monday and we will be voting at 
6:30, I hope that the Members engage their constituents on their vote, 
need it be against or for providing health care to poor children. I 
think that there should be a line of questioning as one walks through 
the airport when they get back home. Some of those volunteers out there 
should ask, ``Congressman, how did you vote on overriding the President 
when he vetoed health care for 10 million poor children here in the 
United States?'' I just want to make sure that one can answer that 
question with great accuracy. They may miss their flight or their 
connecting flight or they may even miss the ride home because it's 
going to be a long discussion. How can you be on the other side of 270 
organizations that are not partisan organizations, that are nonpartisan 
organizations, that are 501(c)3s, that are doctors, that are nurses, 
that are children's organizations, the different organizations and 
associations that have been created to be here for this very time to 
educate all of us on those disparities as it relates to health care, to 
expand the opportunity for 10 million children to have health care and 
deny it?
  There was a bunch of name calling here in Washington, D.C. The 
President called it socialized medicine. What is socialized medicine? 
To sit up here and say ``socialized medicine'' after running up a $1.19 
trillion debt from foreign nations on a war and other things, tax cuts 
for the superwealthy, that more than 42 Presidents before him and $1.01 
trillion from 1776 to 2007 couldn't do.
  You take out your veto pen only one time, one time in the first term 
when we had a Republican Congress, one time, and that was on stem cell 
research. And now, all of a sudden, you have a veto pen connected to 
your index finger in your right hand, walking around, waiting on 
bipartisan bills passing through this Congress, Democrats and 
Republicans voting on these bills and sending them to you. And as soon 
as they get there, you want to veto them and then say something like 
the Congress is not doing what it's supposed to do.
  When I was in the 109th Congress, I would already be home. We would 
probably vote 1 or 2 days out of the week and then we would go home. 
Now we're putting in the work, broke the record, 982 roll call votes 
and the year is not even over yet and we have a lot of work to do. 
Meanwhile, we have to take these votes to try to override the 
President. We could have been focused on another issue here today. We 
could have been focused on some of the appropriation bills that we were 
waiting to get through the process that we can't get through the 
process at this point.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I'm glad that I had the opportunity to come down to 
the floor on this Thursday evening. I look forward to continuing to 
work with the bipartisan coalition, with the volunteer coalition in 
moving this issue forward. I look forward to listening to what Members 
are going to say in the press as to the reason why they voted for 
health care for children, which I am pretty sure can be a one-liner, 
versus those of the 13 votes that we fell short here on this floor in 
overriding the President and the 154 that voted against today, the 
dissertation that they have to write on the reason why they voted 
against children's having health care today.
  I want to thank the work of not only the members of the committee but 
the staff here in working so hard here in Congress in trying to provide 
the health care that is needed.
  I close with this, what I shared maybe about 20 minutes ago, Mr. 
Speaker: In the legislative process there's a great story. At the end, 
there is glory once we are able to provide 10 million children with 
health care. So as we write this story, the good thing about America is 
its okay to say maybe I took the wrong vote and I have made some 
mistakes. I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, I have made some mistakes the 
years I have been in public service thus far, going on 14 years. I have 
taken some votes and later I said next time I have the opportunity, I'm 
going to vote the right way. I know more because I studied a little bit 
more. I have heard some input from both sides. And that's just the 
human spirit. I mean, that's fine. That happens. But when you have so 
much information and it is so clear and the evidence is there to show 
that we have States that are going to be running close to their program 
ending and children are not going to have health care and we are 
sitting here trying to override the President and we fall short 13 
votes not because of the lack of will, not because of the lack of 
desire, it's because of whatever reason that those Members of Congress 
decided not to override the veto. The Senate has the votes to override. 
In the House we did not have it, and 154 of my Republican colleagues 
voted against our doing that. And I think that is very important to 
note. Again, it's not politics; it's just the facts. And the facts are 
what they are. And when that roll call vote took place today, which I 
am pretty sure you will see printed today, roll call vote 982, it may 
very well be the vote that may give us some new Members of Congress 
here that may very well provide the kind of leadership that we need. 
But we cannot wait on that to happen because children will be denied 
health care, poor children will be denied health care.
  Mr. Speaker, it was an honor to address the House, and I want to 
thank the majority leader for allowing me to have the hour.
  I know that the story will continue. We look forward to the glory. 
And I want to ask those that are pushing to continue to push, and I 
believe we will make it to where poor children will be able to receive 
the health care that they deserve and this country should provide.

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