Sen. Clinton responds to Bush's veto of SCHIP expansion

Hillary Clinton commented today about Bush's veto of the bi-partisan bill expanding SCHIP. Democrats aligned with many Republicans to vote on a veto proof bill in the Senate, and sent it to Bush to sign. Unfortunately the House version of the bill came short of the needed votes to override President Bush's veto. It's unlikely Democrats/Republicans will be able to get enough Representatives in the House to support the bill when it comes back up on Oct. 17 .

However, hopefully the House leadership pressures those Representatives and fights this. There's still hope for millions of uninsured kids!

From Hillary Clinton:

"With the stroke of a pen, President Bush has robbed nearly four million uninsured children of the chance for a healthy start in life and the health coverage they need but can't afford. These children are invisible to this president, but they aren't invisible to the American people or to the overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress - and they aren't invisible to me."

"I was proud to help create the Children's Health Insurance Program during the Clinton Administration, which today provides health insurance for six million children. In New York alone, almost 400,000 children benefit from CHIP every month. The president's veto today stopped us from insuring an additional 3.8 million children, including 72,000 more children in New York.

"I will continue to fight to provide health insurance to all children - as I have proposed in the Senate - and to pursue quality, affordable health care for all Americans. No child should be invisible in our country or in our health care system."

(source : www.hillaryclinton.com)
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Chris McLeod