Capps' Statement in Support of Bipartisan Legislation to Reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program
WASHINGTON, D.C. -Congresswoman Lois Capps released the following statement of support for bipartisan legislation reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program. On October 3rd the President vetoed this legislation and tomorrow the House of Representatives will consider a motion to override the President's misguided veto.
I'm pleased all of you are taking the time out of your busy schedules to attend this Vigil in support of one of our most precious resources, our children's health.
As you all know, one of the biggest debates currently going on the Central and South Coasts concerns Congressional efforts to provide some of our neediest children with health insurance coverage.
The Democratic-led Congress recently passed a bipartisan compromise bill that would reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and provide health insurance to 10 million children.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of 43 governors who recently wrote to the House and Senate in support of our bill.
Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch's said that this legislation is "an honest compromise which improves a program that works."
Our bill would have protected the health insurance of 6 million children currently enrolled in SCHIP and extended health insurance to 4 million children who are eligible for coverage through the SCHIP program but who do not receive coverage due to a lack of funding.
Unfortunately, on October 3rd President Bush vetoed this common sense bipartisan legislation.
Let's be direct about this matter. We are talking about a moral issue here. This bill seeks to maintain and extend vital healthcare to the children of the working poor.
In my own Christian tradition there is a clear imperative to care for the poor. Jesus declared in no uncertain terms: "If you do it unto the least of these brothers and sisters, you do it unto me."
And Proverbs teaches us, "He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God."
Caring for the poor is a basic moral value intrinsic to all religious and spiritual traditions. It is a basic ethical principle, essential to our way of life in this nation.
It is a sad day when a country as rich in resources as ours allows children to die from tooth abscesses in order to preserve a political ideology.
I call on my colleagues to reflect carefully on their values, the values of our community, and the needs of our nation's children.
Tomorrow I'll be voting to override the President's misguided veto of this bipartisan bill. I hope all of my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, join me.