[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26169]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   URGING THE PRESIDENT TO VETO THE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS'S SCHIP BILL

  (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, in 1998 the Republican Congress enacted the 
State Children's Health Insurance Program to help children of families 
near poverty.
  But now, true to their big government agenda, the Democrat Congress 
has sent the President a massive increase in the SCHIP program that 
will usher in a new era of socialized medicine in America. This bill 
will take a program designed to help children near the poverty level 
and expand it to include families with incomes of up to $83,000 a year, 
and Democrats would pay for this middle-class entitlement with a 61 
cent per-pack tax increase on cigarettes.
  Let's provide health insurance for children of the poor and the near 
poor, but let's reject a liberal Democratic Congress's attempt to 
create middle-class entitlements on the backs of American smokers.
  Mr. President, veto this bill.

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