[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26625]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               REPUBLICANS NEED TIME TO REFLECT ON SCHIP

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, my Republican friends need some time to 
reflect on the children's health program; not over the course of the 2 
weeks just for pressure, but to get their facts straight, to stop 
getting their information from the White House talking points and get 
information from the American people, their Governor, about how the 
program actually works.
  President Bush is worried that it won't go to poor children because 
some families earning up to $83,000 a year will be eligible.
  First of all, this is not a program for poor children, most of whom 
are already eligible for Medicaid. It is for children of working 
families, 90 percent of whom earn less than $40,000 a year. No one gets 
$83,000, because the Bush administration turned down one State's 
request. A few do have higher incomes because the States requested it 
and the Bush administration approved it.
  The Bush administration, if they don't like families getting it, can 
stop approving those waivers.

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