Cubin Votes to Sustain Presidential Veto

Press Release

Cubin Votes to Sustain Presidential Veto
Cubin Joins Colleagues Introducing SCHIP Alternative to Enroll More Low-Income Children

U.S. Representative Barbara Cubin voted today to sustain President Bush's veto of the Democrat's Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007, sending a clear message to Democratic leadership that children in low-income families must be provided health insurance - not illegal aliens and the wealthy.

On October 3, President Bush vetoed the Democrats' bill, which would reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). By law, when the President vetoes a bill brought before him, a 2/3 Majority of the House of Representatives must vote to override his decision in order to pass the bill into law despite his disapproval. Cubin voted with the President today refusing to override his decision and the House upheld the President's veto by a vote of 273-156. Cubin first voted against the Democrats reauthorization, a $50 billion program expansion, when it came to the floor of the House in August.

The bill the President vetoed included a $35 billion program expansion that makes health insurance paid for by hard-working taxpayer dollars available to illegal immigrants and families of four with annual incomes well over $80,000. To fund this expansion, Democrats included a tax hike on tobacco products and have been forced to use budget gimmicks to comply with their own rules requiring that any new spending is fully offset. The legislation schedules an 80 percent reduction in program funding five years down the road, leaving the burden of paying for the expansion on the shoulders of a future Congress.

"For weeks, Democrats have taken to the airways, saying that anyone who opposes this bill is against health care for disadvantaged kids," Cubin said. "That is simply not what the Democrats' bill is about. It would have provided taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants and upper-income families, moved people from private insurance to government run healthcare and put important health care decisions into the hands of Washington bureaucrats. The people of Wyoming, and the entire country, deserve better."

Cubin joined colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives today introducing the More Choices, More Children Act to responsibly reauthorize and significantly improve the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

"This socially and fiscally responsible bill gives us the tools to ensure that low income children get the critical health care they need," Cubin said. "I believe it is essential to have a solution that will continue to cover those who need it most and offer some assistance to families that still lack health insurance."

The More Choices, More Children Act is comprised of three key elements to ensure that children in low-income families receive the critical health care coverage they need. First, the bill would fully reauthorize the current SCHIP, covering those with incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level as originally intended by the program. Second, the bill would offer a $1400 tax credit per child to families between 200%-300% of the federal poverty level to help them purchase the coverage that best meets their needs. The bill would also create a Commission to give grants to states with the most innovative solutions to covering their state's uninsured, recognizing that a one-size-fits-all solution has not worked in the past and that it is important to try multiple alternatives.

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