CONGRESSWOMAN JOHNSON RESPONDS TO PRESIDENT’S VETO OF SCHIP
Washington, DC – (Wednesday, October 3, 2007) Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson issued the following statement today after President George Bush vetoed legislation to improve the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
"This could have been a day when the American people can be especially proud of their elected representatives for protecting our children, but instead the President has denied ten million American kids access to health care by vetoing this legislation. There is no justification for the President to veto SCHIP which costs less than $3.50 a day to cover a child through the Children's Health Insurance program.
"Insuring kids is cost-effective for taxpayers who pick up the tab for indigent care in emergency rooms. Today's veto will ensure more of the same: overcrowded emergency room, the threat of illness and disability, and our state continuing to have the highest number of uninsured kids in
the nation.
"A healthy child is more likely to succeed in education and life. As American children wait, I will continue to work with a bipartisan majority in Congress to increase support for SCHIP in the House so we can override the veto and provide 10 million children with the health coverage they need and deserve."
