Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007--Veto Message from the President of the United States

CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2007--VETO MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES -- (House of Representatives - October 18, 2007)

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Ms. PELOSI. Thank you, Madam Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I commend him for his exceptional leadership on this issue.

The issue of health care for Americans has been a signature issue for the Dingell family. Mr. Dingell, the distinguished chairman's father, was the author of legislation for access to health care for all Americans. He continues that tradition. He was in the chair the day and gaveled the vote on Medicare. So thank you for your years of experience and leadership, and, again, your leadership on this important issue of insuring our children.

This isn't about an issue; this is about a value. Thank you, Mr. Stark, thank you, Mr. Pallone, for your leadership, and thanks to the distinguished Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Rangel, for his important and relentless leadership on this issue.

My colleagues, as I listen to the debate today, I hear a lot of subterfuge and distractions; but the fact is that this is a discussion about America's children and it is a discussion about America. There is no industrialized country in the world that anyone respects that does not provide health insurance for its children. We are the exception. This is not a designation to be proud of.

But the American people in their wisdom have this not as an issue, but as a value, as an ethic. That is why I am so proud of what has transpired since we took our first vote on this bill. That day I said we could establish ourselves as ``the Children's Congress,'' and we did. Work remains to be done to bring that to fruition.

In the meantime, across our country, Democrats and Republicans, Governors and mayors, people who work with children or have the responsibility of delivering a system of health care have been advocating for this reauthorization of SCHIP that we have before us today. Every organization you can name, from AARP to YWCA, and everything in between, the American Medical Association, Catholic Hospital Association, Families USA, every organization you can name is supporting this legislation.

I am so proud, because earlier this week Easter Seals representatives covered the Hill with hundreds of advocates visiting Members' offices. We were pleased to hear from the president of Easter Seals, President James Williams, who said, ``Without health care coverage, our early intervention in other programs for children cannot be successful.'' That is why the Easter Seals organization was here.

He was very eloquent in his advocacy, but no more eloquent than the young children who were here to tell us their stories.

Today, representatives of the March of Dimes, over 400 of them, are visiting offices on Capitol Hill. And Jennifer Howse, president of the March of Dimes, has stated that SCHIP ``is the health insurance lifeline for millions of low-income children who have no other way to obtain coverage.''

Our country has put poor children first; that's called Medicaid. The poorest of the poor children in our country are able to receive health care through Medicaid.

I wish you could have heard the stories of some of the parents who told us, Bethany's parents who were in the other day. The press asked them if they were afraid their family would come under attack because they were lobbying for SCHIP. They said we are already under attack, but we are proud to come forward to support this initiative. We are not proud of the fact that we are low income, they said. We are trying very hard to lift ourselves up into the middle class. We work very hard not to be on Medicaid, but to be among the working poor, it is not something that we brag about, but SCHIP is something that we need.

So when the President wants to have 4 or 5 million children instead of 10 million children in his initiative, is he the one, the decider, who wants to go to that family and say, Your child is out? Bethany had heart problems from birth. She was 2 years old in July. They have been told by some people as they lobbied, The baby is better now; you don't need SCHIP anymore. Well, she does.

They said, We are not just lobbying for Bethany; we are lobbying for all of the children.

As far as the March of Dimes is concerned, and I am proudly wearing their pin, they deal with children with birth defects, and it might interest you to know that one of eight children in America each year is born prematurely, around half a million babies born prematurely. Many of those children, I am not saying all, but many of those children have ongoing conditions and preconditions that bar them from getting any health insurance. Those children need SCHIP. They are in the category that makes them eligible.

And that category does not include people earning $83,000 a year. So while some of you may use that as an excuse not to vote for the program, I hope you know intellectually it is not a reason to vote against this initiative. There are currently no children enrolled in SCHIP with family income of 400 percent of the Federal poverty level, $83,000 for a family of four. In fact, 91.3 percent of the children enrolled in SCHIP are in families of four that make less than 200 percent of poverty. And 99.95 percent, just a hair under 100 percent of them, are in families under 300 percent of poverty.

So this is a sad thing. We are asking people who are working hard and playing by the rules, they are taking care of their families. They could have stayed out of work and stayed on Medicaid, but that is not what we are encouraging people to do in our country. We are encouraging them to move on and upward. And these families have to come forward and say why they have not attained the American Dream of enough wealth to afford $1,200 a month in health insurance premiums, and that's a big order.

I am so pleased, though, that with the work they have done, Easter Seals, Red Cross and all of the organizations I mentioned earlier, and the Governors and mayors, et cetera, that now 82 percent of the American people support this initiative. If I said it before, I want to say it again.

And let me also say that there are some myths about SCHIP. Well, I don't think that they are myths; I think they are excuses not to vote for the bill. I mentioned one of them. Another one is about illegal aliens.

Clearly, the bill states ``no Federal funding for illegal aliens.'' It says it, but it is also the law of the land. Illegal aliens do not get benefits, so don't use that as an excuse to deprive 10 million children in our country who are eligible for enrollment in SCHIP that they shouldn't get it.

This has been a bipartisan effort, and some of what has been said about SCHIP is simply not true. But don't take it from me. Senator ORRIN HATCH, former Chair of the Health Committee in the Senate, now the ranking member, said: ``I believe that some have given the President bad advice on this matter because I believe supporting this bipartisan compromise to provide health coverage to low-income children is the morally right thing to do. If we were truly compassionate, it seems to me, we would endorse this program.'' Senator ORRIN HATCH, Republican of Utah.

Senator CHARLES GRASSLEY, former chairman of the Finance Committee, another committee of jurisdiction and now the ranking member said: ``The President's claims about SCHIP are flatly incorrect. The SCHIP bill is not a government takeover of health care. Screaming `socialized medicine' during a health care debate is like screaming `fire' in a crowded theater. It is intended to cause hysteria that diverts people from looking at the facts.'' Senator Grassley, Republican Senator from Iowa.

So, my colleagues, we have a decision today to override the President's veto, which would be, in my view, the right thing to do for our children and for our country. It is not about compassion. It is about fairness. It is about fairness. And this is a bill again that has been bipartisan in its development and required enormous sacrifice from the Democrats in the House of Representatives. We had a much higher goal. This is what is achievable for the children. It should have been signed by the President. There is no reason that he has given that is consistent with the facts.

And so I urge my colleagues to think about the children, to think about Bethany and think about a little boy, Zeke, who was in my office this morning. He is the ambassador of the March of Dimes for 2007. He is 8 years old, born prematurely at a pound and a half, and now going out and speaking on behalf of the needs of other children.

The President is isolated in this. Don't join him in his isolation. Come forward on behalf of the children and let's truly send a signal that we are about the future. I tried to do that when I was sworn in by being surrounded by children. It was a spontaneous moment, but it was one that was clear in its message: We are gaveling this House to order on behalf of the children.

There is nothing more important that we have to do in our work than make sure that our children are healthy and safe. Today we have an opportunity to do that. Let's not miss that opportunity. Let's give a vote for the children and against the President's veto.

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