[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 25390]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         STRENGTHENING THE CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM

  (Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, when President Bush was running 
for re-election in 2004, one of the major promises he made during his 
acceptance speech at the Republican Convention was to strengthen the 
Children's Health Insurance Program.
  Back then, the compassionately conservative President vowed to, and 
I'm quoting now, ``lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor 
children who are eligible but not signed up for the government's health 
insurance program.''
  That's exactly what this Congress has done. A bipartisan agreement 
that comes to the floor today would enroll more than 4 million more 
children in the Children's Health Insurance Program who are already 
eligible. And based on his past statement, you would think that 
President Bush would be praising this agreement. He is not. In fact, 
he's threatening to veto the bill because he says that we are trying to 
expand the program beyond its original intent. That's just wrong. Our 
bipartisan agreement does nothing more than what he vowed to do back in 
2004.
  Mr. Speaker, actions speak louder than words. The President should 
follow through with his promise and support our efforts to ensure 10 
million children have access to health care.

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