Today, the U.S. House of Representatives failed to override President Bush's December 12 veto of the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program bill (CHIP legislation). The following is the statement of Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, about this development:
“We encourage leaders of Congress—especially as we get closer to the elections—to keep bringing the legislation up for a vote.
“Those that voted in lockstep with the President voted out of step with the needs of America’s children and the wishes of the vast majority of the American public.
“Providing health coverage to America’s uninsured children should be a top national priority. Unfortunately, the President and a small number of members of Congress have chosen to repeatedly ignore this important goal and have stood between 10 million kids and the health care they need.
“The President’s actions will be very harmful to America’s children. It will hurt uninsured children whose education and development opportunities will be stunted.
“This fight is far from over. We will continue to work tirelessly in the weeks and months ahead to make sure that we ultimately prevail and children receive the health care they need.”
