[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 39 (Monday, October 1, 2007)]
[Pages 1241-1242]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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The President's Radio Address

September 22, 2007

    Good morning. In just 8 days, the State Children's Health Insurance 
Program--or SCHIP--is set to expire. This important program helps 
children whose families cannot afford private health insurance, but who 
do not qualify for Medicaid to get the coverage they need. I strongly 
supported SCHIP as a Governor and have strongly supported it as 
President. My 2008 budget proposed to increase SCHIP funding by $5 
billion over 5 years, a 20-percent increase over current funding.

    Instead of working with my administration to enact this funding 
increase for children's health, Democrats in Congress have decided to 
pass a bill they know will be vetoed. One of their leaders has even said 
such a veto would be ``a political victory.'' As if this weren't 
irresponsible enough, Congress is waiting until the SCHIP program is 
just about to expire before passing a final bill. In other words, 
Members of Congress are risking health coverage for poor children purely 
to make a political point.

    The proposal congressional leaders are pushing would raise taxes on 
working Americans and would raise spending by $35 to $50 billion. Their 
proposal would result in taking a program meant to help poor children 
and turning it into one that covers children in some households with 
incomes of up to $83,000 a year. And their proposal would move millions 
of children who now have private health insurance into Government-run 
health care. Our goal should be to move children who have no health 
insurance to private coverage, not to move children who already have 
private health insurance to Government coverage.

    My administration remains committed to working with Congress to pass 
a responsible SCHIP bill. In the meantime, I called this week for 
Congress to make sure health insurance for poor children does not lapse. 
If they fail to do so, more than a million children could lose health 
coverage. Health coverage for these children should not be held hostage 
while political ads are being made and new polls are being taken. 
Congress must pass a clean, temporary extension of the current SCHIP 
program that I can sign by September 30th, the date the program expires.

    In addition to extending the SCHIP program, Congress needs to focus 
on passing fundamental spending bills, especially the annual funding 
bill for the Department of Defense. Congress must also pass additional 
funding for our troops fighting the war on terror. We need these bills 
so we can get our men and women in uniform essential equipment, like 
additional armored fighting vehicles that are resistant to mines and 
ambushes.

    The American people expect their elected leaders in Washington to 
work together by passing responsible bills in a timely manner. I am 
confident that with good will on both sides, Democrats and Republicans 
can do this. We can meet our obligations to help poor children get 
health coverage. We can meet our responsibilities to the men and women 
keeping our Nation safe. And we can do our duty to spend the taxpayers' 
money wisely.

    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 7:50 a.m. on September 21 in the 
Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on September 
22. The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on September 21 but was embargoed for release until the 
broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of this address.

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