For Immediate Release
October 3, 2007
For More Information Contact:
Ed Shelleby
(202) 662-3602
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) today denounced President Bush’s veto of legislation that would have provided health coverage to one-third of the more than nine million uninsured children in America and urged Congress not to give up until it covers all children. The House and the Senate reached agreement last week to increase spending on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by $35 billion over the next five years to insure an additional 3.1 million low-income children. This bill would have reauthorized CHIP with new funds for this expansion and program improvements. President Bush vetoed the legislation today, citing his ideological opposition.
“There are more than nine million uninsured children in America today and this legislation would have provided critical health coverage to a third of them,” said CDF President Marian Wright Edelman. “This veto is further evidence that President Bush would rather play politics with children’s lives than find real solutions to a growing problem. One million more children are uninsured today than two years ago and every day that passes without action is a day we gamble with more than nine million precious lives. Congress must stand with the American people and with our children. Congress must not compromise further. It must fight for a strong CHIP reauthorization while working toward ensuring all children have access to comprehensive health coverage and a real future.”
For more information on CDF’s campaign to provide health coverage to all children, please visit www.childrensdefense.org/healthychild.