[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26286]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD WALK AWAY FROM PRESIDENT BUSH ON CHILDREN'S 
                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. TOWNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, last week most of the Republicans once again 
marched in lockstep with the Bush administration. I have just been 
informed that the President has vetoed the CHIP bill. That is a shame 
and it is a disgrace. Despite the fact that this Democratic Congress 
crafted a bipartisan bill with Republican input, most Republican 
Members chose to ignore the health care needs of 10 million children. 
It is a shame and a national disgrace.
  The Children's Health Insurance Program has helped our Nation reduce 
the number of uninsured children. During each of the 8 years of the 
program, the number of uninsured children decreased, but over the last 
2 years these numbers have actually gone up. Based on these troubling 
trends, this Democratic Congress did not believe that a straight 
reauthorization was enough. We needed to strengthen the CHIP program, 
and that is exactly what we did.
  And now I have been informed that the President has vetoed it. That's 
a disgrace.

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