Garrett Votes against Democrats' Deceptive Last Minute SCHIP Ploy
Press Release
Garrett Votes against Democrats' Deceptive Last Minute SCHIP Ploy
Today, US Representative Scott Garrett (NJ-5) stood steadfast for real healthcare reform that provides access to care for poor children in voting against the Democrats' new SCHIP bill. The bill, which was only made available to Members for review around midnight last night, was little more than different window dressing on the same misguided policies and failed to address in any way the barriers to care that millions of working poor families face every day.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), this new SCHIP legislation still forces 2 million children off private health insurance and onto public coverage, as the first version did. The new SCHIP bill also still relaxes checks meant to keep illegal immigrants from receiving benefits. According to the Social Security Administration, the Democrats' proposals "create a conclusive presumption based on less reliable data that a person is a citizen," failing to provide the necessary safeguards to protect the benefits. Furthermore, the new SCHIP bill still provides benefits for wealthy adults. The new text states that adults with children will still be able to siphon off benefits from the children's health program.
In response to this deceptive second shot, Rep. Garrett stated:
"I'm horrified at the Democrats deceptive ploy to produce a bill in the dead of night knowing that Members from California had a serious natural disaster to tend to and would be absent from the vote. In their quest to manufacture a showing of support for their bill, they circumvented regular order and denied Members the opportunity to review the text and consider its provisions. Deceptive acts like this have no place in the United States Congress."
"This bill still saddles the American children with extraordinary debt. This bill still carries a tremendous price tag -- $71.5 billion over the next ten year. And, this bill still relies on a tobacco tax that will require 22.4 million children will have to start smoking in order to carry the weight of this bill."
"This is the third attempt that the Democrats have made at a vote and still they bring bad policy to the House floor. If they really care for the nation's uninsured children then they should work with Republicans and the White House to create a bipartisan plan that actually helps them rather than overburdens them with debt."
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